Rogue
by snapes-doe-patronus
Summary: AU. Marauders-Era Golden Trio. Severus Snape, Regulus Black, and a Hufflepuff girl fake their own deaths and run away from Hogwarts at different points in their 6th year, eventually taking up completely new identities in the Wizarding World. They decide to work independently from the Order of the Phoenix, and attempt to take down You-Know-Who from the inside. Will they succeed?
1. Chapter 1: The Girl

**_Hello my friends! After having been on a long hiatus from writing some Harry Potter fics, I have returned. My last Potter fics were written on a different account, and I published during my tweens and early teens *cringe* so I've decided to start fresh. Today, I am a college student with crippling debt, who enjoys distracting herself by writing AU Marauders-Era fics. Enjoy!_**

 ** _Obviously if I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing this. Characters belong to JK Rowling._**

 _ **TW: Implied sexual assault**_

* * *

 _ **September 1st, 1975**_

Lily had her forehead leaning against the window, watching the Scottish countryside roll by on the Hogwarts Express.

Sixth year was bound to be different from any year past. She was no longer friends with a boy she'd known for eight years, He Who Must Not Be Named was gaining more ground in the war, and for the first time since she was eleven, James Potter hadn't sent her an owl during the holidays.

She sighed, pulling her knees close to her chest.

 **XXXXX**

On the other side of the train, Severus Snape was in a compartment with fellow Slytherins Regulus Black, Emily Vanity, Malcolm Wilkes, and Evan Rosier.

Emily had been writing to Severus all summer, sensing the opportunity to become romantically involved with him now that Lily was no longer in his life. While Severus was a half-blood, he was brilliant and interesting, which interested her much more than the dunderheaded pure-bloods trying to catch her fancy. However, much to her dismay, nothing hinting of romance had come of the situation yet.

"Going back to Hogwarts is so anticlimactic after third year," Evan sneered.

"Hogwarts," Regulus snorted, "what a pathetic excuse for a school."

"I think I'd rather pitch myself off the astronomy tower than continue for another two years," Severus muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emily asked.

"I just don't think you'll find me wasting my time in Charms class next year," Severus said.

"I've been corresponding with Malfoy recently, he says that if things continue to go well, I should hope to join the Dark Lord sometime next summer," Evan smirked, "What about you Wilkes?"

"I'd rather be carrying out the Dark Lord's work than writing this stupid Potions essay. Who does Slughorn think he is, assigning us essays over the summer?" Malcolm replied, his quill scratching over the parchment.

"I don't understand why you're even bothering with that," Emily said, "even if you don't hand it in, you'll still be in the Slug Club."

 _ **September 4th, 1975**_

Severus had completely fucked himself over.

The previous night, whilst completing an essay for Transfiguration in the Slytherin common room, Severus overheard Rosier and Wilkes enthusiastically discussing their plans to join the Dark Lord with younger students. Frustrated by the level of noise the common room was approaching as the younger ones ogled over a pamphlet the two boys passed around, Severus lashed out.

"I frankly am tired of hearing about the Dark Lord. If you want to kill more of your brain cells by reading his propaganda, be my guest, just please shut up," he snapped.

"Oh yeah? And what would a filthy half-blood like you know?" Barty Crouch Jr. snarled back, having been enthralled in the idea of joining the Dark Lord.

Severus had been used to experiencing the foul words of blood-purists in his house for years, but that didn't stop him from shoving by Crouch and stalking up to his dormitory, dozens of eyes staring daggers into his back.

He'd warded his bed as a precaution that night. The Slytherins he slept near had a nasty habit of hexing people who talked negatively about the Dark Lord.

He was right to be on edge. As he walked down the right side of the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, someone was able to hit his leg with a stinging jinx. At first, he had suspected Potter, but then he saw Avery snicker, and give Rosier a high five.

This was going to be a long year.

 **XXXXX**

 ** _October 5th, 1975_**

Severus had grown closer with Emily and Regulus. Their relationship was nothing compared to what he and Lily's used to be, but he guessed he could consider them his friends. They were the only members of his house who had continued associating with him following the incident in the Common Room, which he knew had alienated them amongst their housemates as well.

Regulus had been trying to convince Severus for days to ask Emily to go to Hogsmeade, but Severus kept brushing it off. He barely had enough money to buy extra quills and parchment this weekend, let alone take someone on a date.

The mid-Autumn snow had caught many students off guard, so many who had decided to venture to Hogsmeade confined themselves inside the shops. Severus had accompanied Regulus into the village that day, where they were currently comparing what they could find in the back room of Flourish and Blotts.

"Hey Snape, check this out," Regulus said, showing him the cover of _Phoenix Tears to Sphinx Tongues: Rare Ingredients and the Potions They Create_.

Severus lifted his head up from the book it had been burried in.

"Professor Slughorn has that in his private laboratory," he responded nonchelantly, "he only lets N.E.W.T students borrow it."

"Of course you've read it," Regulus said, "what's that you've got there?"

" _Spell Creation: Jinxes, Curses, and Latin_ ," Severus mused.

"Don't see why you need that, you already know how to create spells."

"Yes, and I've also had my creations constantly used against me. I want to create spells that are…more advanced. More powerful."

"More like something mere dunderheads wouldn't be able to cast in their dizziest daydreams," Regulus laughed.

Severus snorted. Though he would never admit it, having James Potter use his own spell against him in front of all those people fifth year had been humiliating. Even more humiliating than having his manly honor on display for half the school. His plan was to develop a new line of self-defense spells, and he had been excessively researching the creation of defensive spells since that close call with Lupin last year.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then. I need to stop by Honeydukes."

Severus nodded.

"I'll meet you outside Scribbulus' around four?" Regulus asked.

Severus nodded again, silently thankful that his friend had suggested the cheaper of the two quill stores in Diagon Alley. When he was still friends with Lily, she would affectionately refer to him Scribbulus while they did their homework in the library. However, after the incident last year, she, like most of the other Hogwarts students, preferred his nastier nickname.

 **XXXXX**

Lily felt her heartrate increase when she saw a male figure with long, black hair browsing a shelf full of Fizzing Whizzbees.

To her relief, and slight disappointment, it was only Regulus Black. Soon, he was approached by Emily Vanity.

"Have you seen Severus?" the blonde asked him.

Lily raised an eyebrow, shifting herself closer to the conversation.

"I left him not too long ago in Flourish and Blotts," Regulus said, "He was rather occupied though. Why?"

"I was going to see if he fancied a butterbeer."

Lily snorted to herself. Severus hated butterbeer.

"Snape doesn't like butterbeer," Regulus said, voicing Lily's thought, "Look, Emily, if you want to get in with Snape, you need to stop trying so hard."

"It's just so difficult to get through to him, Regulus. You've known Severus for years…"

"So have you."

"You know what I mean. He's only just started to regard me as a friend. You've been his friend for five years."

"Emily, I tried to get him to ask you to be his escort to Hogsmeade this weekend, I don't know what else I could possibly do to…" Regulus said, pushing by her towards the register.

 **XXXXX**

After taking countless pages of notes, Severus cast a time-telling charm on his wrist. Five minutes 'til four. He shoved his ink-covered parchment into his pocket, and returned the book to its shelf. It cost twenty three galleons, which was about twenty more than he had to his name.

He thanked the shopkeeper on his way out, and decided to take an alleyway nuzzled between Olivanders and Flourish and Blotts as a shortcut.

As soon as he entered the alley, he was on edge. This alley wasn't travelled by many people, but there was a trail of many pairs of footprints imprinted in the snow, and the snow had only fallen last night.

Soon, he heard whimpering. He drew his wand, creeping cautiously down the alley. Suddenly, he stumbled. Severus righted himself, and found the source of his stumble and the whimpering.

Sticking out of a mangle of crates, he saw a leg clad in a dragonhide boot. He felt himself start to panic. Lily had those boots.

He immediately levitated the boxes off of the leg's owner, feeling himself flood with relief. The owner of the leg had blonde, curly hair, not red. She was laying on her side in an almost fetal-position. Her back was towards him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

The girl didn't move, but continued to whimper. He walked around so he could see her face. It was bloodied and bruised.

She didn't move her eyes to look at him, instead they stayed locked in front of her, staring at her shaking hands, which were also bloodied. He noticed she was in Hufflepuff robes.

"Here, let me help you. I can get you back to Hogwarts," he said, putting a cautious hand on her shoulder.

The girl jerked away from his palm, and shook her head vigorously, "I-I c-can't go back there," she whispered, still staring at her hands.

"Can I at least help you sit up? Your left side must be freezing," he said.

She hesitated, then nodded. She shifted herself slightly, turning her head towards him.

"S-Snape?" she choked out.

"Amelia Fitzpatrick," he said, recognizing the Huffpuff in his year.

He offered her his hand, and as she grabbed it and pushed herself off the ground, his eyes widened in horror. She had been lying in a pool of her own blood. Her robes were disheveled, her dress shirt slashed opened, revealing even more cuts down her breasts and abdomen. The crotch of her slacks had been slashed at as well, revealing even more blood on her underwear and thighs. She clung to him shakily, allowing him to lead her to one of the discarded crates. She sat down, still not looking him in the eye.

"Who did this to you?" he hissed out, taking off his cloak and draping it over her knees.

She merely shook her head, "I can't go back to Hogwarts."

"I understand," he said, running over possible solutions in his mind, "I'm going to go get more help. Stay here."

And with that, he took off down the alleyway.

* * *

Regulus was waiting outside of Scribbulus', clearly annoyed.

 _Nearly ten minutes late_ , he thought, _foul git._

Suddenly, Severus appeared, bursting from an alleyway on his left, "Regulus," he panted, "I need your help."

"What did you get yourself into now?"

"Not me…a girl…" his breathing slowed, "There's a girl in the alleyway. A Hufflepuff. Someone attacked her. I think she…I think she might have been raped."

Regulus' eyes widened, and he followed his friend back into the alley, need for parchment and ink forgotten.

Amelia was in the same position Severus had left her in, except she had covered her legs with his cloak.

"This is—" Severus started.

"—Regulus Black," she finished, "I'm still not going back to Hogwarts."

"Why not?" Regulus asked.

"Dumbledore would never believe what happened to me," she whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest, "Nor would he care. I'm not a one of his darling Golden Gryffindors."

"We can't just leave you here," Severus said.

"Yeah, and even if you did run away, they'd drag you right back to Hogwarts after they found you," Regulus explained.

"What if I didn't want to be found?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Regulus asked.

"You want to fake your death?" Severus questioned.

"I can't go back to Hogwarts, and I don't want them to come looking for me. What else would you propose?"

The two boys responded with silence.

"Exactly," she mumbled.

"I'd do it if I had the chance," Severus said, "fake my death. Start over somewhere new…as someone new…anything to get out of this hellhole."

The others nodded in agreement, and soon they concoted a plan. Regulus would transfigure one of the crates into Amelia's body, placing it back in the position Severus had found her, laying in the puddle of blood. Then, Severus would place the remaining crates back over her body, making the scene look untouched.

After this was completed, Regulus called Kreacher. He instructed his house elf to take Amelia to the abandoned Black property in the Irish mountains, and to get the other house elf there to tend to her needs. He commanded Kreacher to not tell anyone that Amelia was there.

Regulus and Severus promised Amelia that they'd join her at the Black cabin as soon as they could, and with that, the house elf apparated away with the girl, and the two boys strode back towards Hogwarts.

* * *

 ** _Up Next: Hogwarts falls into chaos as students and staff realize someone never made it back from Hogsmeade._**


	2. Chapter 2: The Discovery

**_Thank you all for your overwhelming support of my first chapter! I wasn't expecting it to get so much attention, and I am so flattered! Thank you so much!_**

 ** _As much as a girl can wish, I don't own the characters in this story, I'm merely playing with them._**

 _ **TW: Sexual Assault Mentioned**_

* * *

 _ **October 6th, 1975**_

By the following morning, the news of Amelia Fitzpatrick not returning from Hogsmeade had spread through the school like wildfire. Amelia's roommates had reported the blonde missing to Professor Sprout shortly before breakfast, saying that she'd never returned to their dormitory and that they hadn't seen her since she had left the Three Broomsticks, which had been around two in the afternoon the previous day.

Classes had been cancelled for the day, and Dumbledore had called upon the staff and the prefects to search the village. Among the twenty four prefects, three of them included Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, and Regulus Black.

There were whispers about the possible scenarios that could have taken place. Amelia Fitzpatrick didn't have many acquaintances, so at the thought that she had minimal ties to Hogwarts, some suggested perhaps she just up and left. However, they would be interrupted by people who discussed Amelia's bloodstatus. She was Muggleborn, and as a result of the war going on, witches and wizards of her kind were disappearing everyday. These students would suggest that she was taken or harmed by Death Eaters, and their opinion was the popular consensus.

 **XXXXX**

Down in Hogsmeade, Dumbledore had instructed the prefects and staff to search in pairs, and to cast periculum if they discovered anything. A few aurors had been summoned to join in the search as well.

The various pairs had been searching for hours, but had found nothing. More snow had fallen during the night, covering up any evidence that could have been on the ground. Eventually, Lily decided to venture down an alleyway between Ollivander's and Flourish and Blotts; she instructed Remus to search the alleyway on their right.

Walking down the alley, Lily didn't see much except for the occasional discarded wooden crate or bag of garbage. Suddenly, she found herself on the ground; she had tripped over something buried in the snow. Pushing herself up into a crouch, her eyes peered into the broken slats on the pile of crates that appeared to hold the source of what had tripped her. She shifted her body slightly, allowing more light to illuminate the darkness within the crates. She froze. A pair of blue eyes had caught the light, and were staring straight back at her, not blinking, tears frozen in the creases.

Lily didn't remember screaming, she didn't feel Remus' arms lift her from the ground. Everything was moving in slow motion. Remus made her sit on a nearby crate, and she squinted up at him as he said words to her that she did not hear. He cast periculum into the sky, and before Lily was able to form a coherent sentence, several teachers and aurors had swarmed the area. Lily looked around her, beginning to process the scene.

"…heard her scream, and I ran right over," she could hear Remus say.

Everything was moving fast now. She turned her head slightly to see that the narrow lump of snow sticking out of the crates that she'd tripped over was still covered. They didn't know what she had seen.

"Miss Evans?" McGonagall eased, looking away from Remus.

Lily took in a shaky breath, and pointed her trembling finger, "T-there. Under…under the crates," she whispered.

McGonagall looked to Dumbledore, who began levitating the pile of broken, dark cubes. Everyone's eyes widened in horror. Where the lump in the snow ended, a thigh with slashed pants began.

McGonagall was beginning to usher Lily and Remus out of the alley and towards the other prefects, but it was too late. They had both already seen it. The disheveled blonde hair, the slashes down her front, the dried blood on her exposed thighs, the bruises on her face…and the Hufflepuff robes.

 **XXXXX**

Regulus' hand twitched nervously as he joined the group of prefects across the street from Ollivander's. As soon as he saw where the periculum was cast from, he knew someone had found her.

Seeing the looks on the faces of the two Gryffindor prefects who emerged from the alley told Regulus everything he needed to know. They had witnessed the horror as well, perhaps worse than when he and Severus had. Amelia herself had said that the frozen tears had been a nice touch.

Mr. Filch was barking at them to get back to the castle, and the entire walk up, everyone kept pestering Lily and Remus about what they had seen. They both remained silent.

 **XXXXX**

"This poor, poor girl," Dumbledore muttered to himself.

"She suffered…greatly," one of the aurors said.

"There has been dark magic used here," Professor Jermania added.

The aurors cast a few spells to confirm what they had already known. The girl was dead, she had been cursed, but the slashes had been inflicted by some sort of sharp object.

One of the aurors approached the body, flipping back the lower portion of her robe. He took a sharp inhale at what he saw and turned his head, placing the robe back where it had been.

"She was sexually assaulted," he muttered.

They moved around in silence, taking in the scene.

"Did she fight back?" Slughorn asked.

"We can't be sure," McGongall answered.

"We can find out. _Accio_ Amelia's Wand!" Flitwick squeaked, to no avail.

"Maybe she couldn't fight back, especially if they took her wand," said Professor Sprout.

"Miss Fitzpatrick was rather gifted in Defense Against the Dark Arts, she would have been able to have great success in a duel…if there was one," Professor Jermania said.

The other staff members murmured in agreement, while the aurors kept investigating the body and the scene surrounding it.

"It was an initiation," Dumbledore concluded, "This type of crime is not an uncommon ritual for the Death Eaters."

"Whatever do you mean, Albus?" McGonagall asked.

"He's right," Jermania said, "Death Eaters vary slightly in how each person is initiated. Some have to kill, others have to steal, and then there are those who rape or torture."

"You have to do one of those things to get a Dark Mark?" Sprout asked.

"No," one of the aurors said, "They have to do those things just to be considered for joining their lowest ranks. The ones in Azkaban have told us all about it."

"Do you think it was a student?" Flitwick questioned.

"I can't help but fathom that possibility, Filius," Dumbledore said.

 **XXXXX**

The rest of the students were eating dinner when the Prefects arrived. Headboy Frank Longbottom and Headgirl Alice Macmillan had been placed in charge of the Great Hall in the absence of the staff.

There was a good three foot gap between Severus and everyone else at the Slytherin table when Regulus approached him. Emily was nowhere in sight.

"Evans and Lupin found her," he said, sitting down across from his friend.

Severus raised an questioning eyebrow.

"One of them cast periculum. They were the ones McGonagall led out of the alley."

The topics of their conversation made their way into the Great Hall, and Severus was able to notice how detached from reality they both appeared in the face.

"We should try to go see her tonight, see how she's faring," Regulus said, "but I reckon Dumbledore and the aurors are going to start interrogating Slytherins any moment."

"So we'll go after he questions us," Severus took a sip from his goblet and smirked, "You know, Regulus, last I remember, we left Scribbulus' and returned to castle around four."

Regulus met his friend's gaze knowingly. They were both skilled enough at Occlumency to block out Dumbledore's prying.

 **XXXXX**

The following morning, Dumbledore had announced the death of Amelia Fitzpatrick before the mass amount of the _Daily Prophet_ could arrive during breakfast. There was a story spanning multiple pages on the attack and death of the girl, which soon consumed many of the students. Lily was credited by name with finding the body, and found herself being constantly questioned by other students.

Regulus had been right. After Dumbledore had pulled Remus and Lily for questioning, the Slytherins were next. They started with the seventh years, and slowly made their way down through every measley third year who could have possibly witnessed something. They found nothing. No confession, no accusation, no evidence.

Classes resumed the following day, and all future trips to Hogsmeade were cancelled until further notice.

 **XXXXX**

 _ **October 8th, 1975**_

Three days after they had left her in the care of Kreacher, Severus and Regulus found an opportunity to sneak out of dinner early and call the house elf. Kreacher popped into the Slytherin commonroom, and immediately apparated them where requested.

The world spun to reveal a grand foyer. Trees that were enchanted to mimic the ones in the forest outside were painted on the walls, a light snowfall on their needles.

They heard the sound of a piano playing in the room straight ahead. The tempo of Claire de Lune was increasing as they entered. The saw Amelia sitting at the instrument to their right, her back facing towards them, fingers flying across the keys.

Regulus took a step towards her, only to have a house elf appear in front of him.

"Master Regulus and his companion musn't disturb Madame Amelia while she plays."

"Why not?" Regulus asked.

"Madame is comforted by the sound, sirs."

A few more measures were played by Amelia before she looked up and saw the reflection of the two young men in the window. The music ceased with a groan from the piano.

"You came."

"Yes," Regulus said, moving to sit in one of the room's posh leather chairs, "how are you?"

There was a pause, and she turned on the piano bench to face them.

"Alive," she said.

"Kreacher and Pinky have been good to you I trust?"

"Yes."

"Did you see the paper?" Severus asked.

"Yes," she paused, "Was it really Lily Evans who found the body?"

The boys nodded.

"Shame. Wish it could have been some pureblood dunderhead that we traumatized," she said, "though I must say, I'm surprised that they didn't pick up on the fact that the body was transfigured."

"I told you, I'm good at Transfiguration," Regulus boasted.

"So it seems."

They sat in silence for a moment, during which Pinky had brought in various refreshments.

"So when do you think you'll join me, Severus?" she asked.

"What about me?" Regulus asked.

"You need to stay until the end of the year. You need to sit for your OWLs ," Amelia said.

"She's right," Severus agreed, "it would be foolish for you to leave without them. Amelia and I don't need our NEWTs in order to find work. As for a convenient time to leave school, I'm not entirely sure."

"I was thinking you could come at some point after the winter holiday," Amelia suggested, "I thought we could do it in the Forbidden Forest, since you probably won't be able to get into Hogsmeade."

"That could work," Severus said, "Slughorn always gives out a vial of Felix Felicis to the sixth year with the best potion the first class back from the holidays…"

"No doubt you'll get it, you've already brewed all the potions in that book three times over," Regulus said.

"You're not wrong," Severus smirked, "And I think it could be a useful tool to have in the future."

 **XXXXX**

That same evening, Lily was listening to her friends talk about Amelia Fitzpatrick in their dormitory, a mixture of kind and unkind things being said about the girl.

"What exactly did you see, Lily?" Mary MacDonald asked.

"I'm not talking about it."

"Oh, come on Lily. Throw us a little bone," Marlene McKinnon pushed.

"No," Lily snapped, "I'm not going to fuel this…this distracting yourself from reality by talking negatively about a girl who you didn't even know, and who very bad things happened to. A girl who could have easily been any one of us."

Lily huffed out of her dormitory and into the commonroom, picking up bits and pieces of various conversations.

"…and they just disappeared off of the map," she heard Sirius say.

"The map is wrong," Remus said.

"The map never lies!" James exclaimed.

"Be reasonable. Snape and Black don't know…" Remus was saying, clearly annoyed.

Lily moved past their conversation, gaining the attention of James Potter. She pushed open the Fat Lady's portrait, and a voice spoke behind her.

"And just where do you think you're going, Evans?"

"To the library."

"This late? It may not be safe, someone like you walking around by yourself."

"Someone like me?" she challenged.

"You know…"

"Someone like Amelia," Remus butted in, "Now if you'll excuse us Prongs, I'm going to escort Lily to the library."

James rolled his eyes and the two departed, the Fat Lady's portrait closing behind them.

"Thanks," Lily muttered.

"Not a problem, I was getting tired of their antics tonight anyways."

"Remus, have people been…questioning you?" she asked.

"Not as much as they are you."

"I wish they would all just leave me alone. I don't get why they're all still talking about it, her murder isn't something to be glorified, and her character isn't something to be debated."

"I think people are talking about it so much because no one really knew Amelia," Remus said.

"What do you mean?"

"Amelia didn't have any close friends, only a few acquaintances."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I sat next to her in Herbology last year. She seemed so…fascinated over the fact that I tried to make conversation with her. When I asked her about it half-way through the year, she told me I was one of the only people here who had ever tried."

They walked in silence for a moment, "What do you need from the library?" Remus asked.

"Nothing," she admitted, "I just needed to get out of my dormitory."

"I see. Well, I'm glad I joined you on the journey. Shall we venture back to the commonroom?"

Lily nodded, "What were Potter and Black saying about the map?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "They think the younger Black and Snape have somehow come up with the ability to apparate in and out of Hogwarts because they disappeared from the map. I tried to explain to them that neither of them know how, and even if they did, you can't apparate within Hogwarts. But you know how they are."

Again, Lily nodded.

"Do you really think it was another student who did it?" she asked.

"There are a couple of Slytherins that I wouldn't put it past, but since Dumbledore and the aurors didn't find anything with them, I'm not sure."

"I think it was."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Because if it really was some sort of initiation like Dumbledore says, someone involved had to have known her blood-status."

 **XXXXX**

 _ **November 10th, 1975**_

Amelia's body had been returned to her family in early November, and there still weren't any leads as to who had committed the crime. The boys had been stopping in to see Amelia at the Black Cabin every week, usually after dinner on Sundays. She was communicating with them regularly via owl, whose envelope was always addressed to Severus, much to Emily's dismay.

"Who _is_ this girl that's been writing to you?" she asked for the ninth day in a row, sitting down next to Regulus.

"I've told you, she's just a friend," Severus responded, reading through the letter.

"And how exactly do you happen to know a random girl at Ilvermorny?"

"That is a story that is much too long and that I do not have the time to tell."

Emily gave up after that, continuing to eat her breakfast in silence. Over the last several days, she had only been able to get miniscule pieces of information from Severus on the girl. She was his friend, she lived in America, he had known her for a while, and she went to Ilvermorny.

After Emily had left to go to Divination, Severus let Regulus read the letter.

"She wants to come to the Yule Ball?"

"Apparently. Though, I find I have to agree with her reasoning. I think it would be a good way for her to test her disguise charms."

"And her accent," Regulus sighed, "well, at least you've got a date now."

"Take Emily," Severus suggested.

"How many times do I have to spell it out for you? Emily fancies _you_ ," Regulus said.

"And how many times do I have to tell _you_ that I'm not particularly interested?" Severus snorted.

 **XXXXX**

Lily had been listening to Emily Vanity complain to Patricia Parkinson about Severus for the entirety of Divination, and while she hadn't spoken to Severus in months, she found herself actively eavesdropping on the conversation.

"…and now he's receiving letters from this girl, all the way from America!"

"America?" Patricia asked.

"Yes! And he won't say how he knows her, but for the last two weeks he's been getting an owl from this girl everyday. He says she goes to Ilvermorny," Emily ranted.

"Maybe his parents arranged it."

"No, his parents don't interact much with wizarding society."

"Wasn't his mum a Prince though?" Patricia asked, "Maybe she pulled some strings and got him set up with this American girl, didn't want her son to make the same mistake she did."

"He says he's known her for a while though."

"Well maybe he's finally come around and is trying to get in with the right sort."

"I don't even know if she's pureblood, and even if she is, you know Severus. He doesn't care about stuff like that."

"Emily, I'm going to try to say this in the nicest way possible. Why do you care what Snape does? You shouldn't be trying to settle for some measly little half-blood. You should be trying to catch the fancy of a proper pureblood man. You're not going to be able to do that if you keep hanging around with Snape."

"But Severus is different, he's…"

Lily stopped listening. She remembered what is was having her friends try to dictate to her what her and Severus' relationship should be. Maybe she should have listened to them earlier.

Lily left Divination in deep thought. She could see why Emily was intrigued. Why _was_ an American girl writing Severus so regularly? Emily claimed that Severus said he'd known the girl for a long time, but it obviously couldn't have been that long if Lily had never heard of her, right?

* * *

 ** _Up next: The Yule Ball_**


	3. Chapter 3: The Yule Ball

_**Hello friends! So happy you could stop by again. Sadly, I still do not own these characters, but I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

 _ **November 12th, 1975**_

Amelia walked into the sitting room, disguise charms intact. Her curly blonde hair was now straight and black, but still falling just below her breasts. Her skin had become paler, her face slimmer. Her freckles had vanished. Her lips were thicker. Even her nose had changed.

"Well, how do I look?" Amelia asked, smiling apprehensively, revealing teeth that were straighter and whiter than they'd been before. Her voice had changed as well.

Both boys stared at her, mouths agape.

"Well don't both of you jump at once," she joked.

"I…I don't think I can do this…" Severus mumbled.

"Is it too much?" she asked.

"No, Amelia, you look great it's just…" Severus trailed off.

"You're going to turn a lot of heads," Regulus finished for him, "And you're not even made up for the ball yet."

"I can show you that too, it'll only take a moment," she said, exiting the room once more.

Severus sunk back into his chair with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I cannot believe I agreed to this," he muttered.

"I don't know what you're hesitating mate, take that to the ball and you'll be a fucking legend."

"It's not that, I just…someone who looks like me does not end up with a girl that looks like her, disguise or not."

"Well, I think it'll be an opportunity for you to go out with a bang, get attention from people who've never given you a second look."

"But I don't want anymore unnecessary atten…" they fell into silence as Amelia re-entered the room.

She was clad in a lavender ballgown, whose skirt was tulle and intertwined with white flowers. Her hair was curled this time, in a half-up, half-down style.

"Merlin's beard," Regulus breathed out.

"I own absolutely nothing that could possibly make me appear proper enough to be escorting you," Severus said.

"That's okay, I made each of you dress robes too."

They looked at her in a mixture of disbelief and shock.

"What?" she asked, "I get bored when you two aren't here!"

 **XXXXX**

Remus excused himself from the Marauders when he saw Lily enter the Gryffindor common room. James and Sirius had been moping all weekend over Filch getting a hold of the map, and frankly, he was a bit annoyed by their behavior.

"Lily," Remus greeted her, "how are you?"

She sighed, sitting down into a chair near the fire, "Fine. And you?"

"I've been better," he said, sitting in the chair next to her.

"Are people whispering about you too?" she asked.

"No, why do you ask?"

"No reason," she answered halfheartedly.

Really, the fact was that ever since Lily had been credited with discovering Amelia's body, people were keeping their distance. Her roommates didn't talk to her unless it was absolutely necessary, her teachers had stopped showing her as much attention in class. Hell, even James Potter had been laying off on his advances lately, which had actually been quite minimal in comparison to last year.

She did admit that she'd looked better. She hadn't had a full night's sleep in two months, her eyes were blood shot, and her hair had been more disheveled than not recently.

"Look, Lily. I understand, okay? No one else in this school could possibly comprehend what we saw…what _you_ saw," he paused, "I still have nightmares."

"Me too," she admitted, running a hand through her hair.

They sat in silence for a moment, before Remus straightened himself and turned towards her again.

"Well, on a lighter note, the reason I pull you aside this evening is that I…" he averted his gaze, "well I wanted to know if you would be interested in going to…the ball with me…as friends?" he asked, his eyes floating back to hers.

Lily nodded her head, "Sure," she smiled, "that sounds nice."

 **XXXXX**

 _ **November 29th, 1975**_

"My name is Evelyn Grey. I'm sixteen years old, I attend Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…"

"What house are you in?" Regulus interrupted.

"Puckwudgie," Amelia recited in an unwavering American accent, "but my sister was sorted into Thunderbird."

"Blimey Amelia, you're bloody good at that accent," Regulus said.

"I told you, I have family in the United States. I know what they sound like."

"So, what's our backstory?" Severus asked.

"Easy. My mother was the last Fawley female to attend Hogwarts, where she became good friends with your mother. Once they finished school, my mother met who she thought was just a Muggle business man, but turned out to be a member of the pureblood Grey family from the United States. He resettled to London for my mother, where they married and had me and my younger sister, Diana. You and I were friends throughout early childhood due to our mothers being old friends, but when we were eight my parents decided to relocate to the United States. We lost contact for a while after that, but recently reconnected."

"You've thought this through a time or two," Severus responded.

"How sound is that backstory?" Regulus asked.

"Very. Jessica Fawley did exist and was in Slytherin at the same time as Eileen Prince. Miss Fawley did indeed meet a member of the Grey family and eventually relocate to the United States with him when their children were young. The last Wizarding Britain has heard, they're living in a remote town in Nevada with their two daughters, whose names are currently unknown."

"How could their names possibly be unknown to wizards here? Don't they have relatives?" Severus questioned.

"Jessica Fawley, their mother, was the last member of her family mentioned in the Pureblood Directory, she didn't have any siblings. Her parents died about ten years ago. Dragon Pox."

"But doesn't Hogwarts know about all of the magical children born in Britain?"

"It does, due to the Quill of Acceptance and Book of Admittance. However, no headmaster has laid eyes on their process or the book's contents in centuries. When children are born on one continent but relocate to another, they are often granted admittance to both of the prominent wizarding schools from said continents and pick which one they'd rather attend. I imagine that both of the Grey children decided to attend Ilvermorny since they did not attend Hogwarts."

"Where on Earth did you find all of this information?" Regulus asked.

"Your family library is quite extensive, I go in there and read a lot when you two are gone," Amelia said, "Just relax, okay? I've been researching and establishing this identity for months, I know what I'm doing."

The boys looked at her apprehensively.

"Severus, if you just go along with everything that I say everything will be fine. It'll be good practice for the future."

"I know," Severus said, "I just have my…reservations."

 **XXXXX**

 _ **December 25th, 1975**_

On the evening of the ball, Regulus was waiting for Emily in the Slytherin common room while Severus waited for Amelia to arrive with Pinky at their designated spot in an abandoned hallway down by the dungeons. Both boys were wearing the dress robes Amelia had made for them.

Severus turned his head to the popping sound behind him, sure enough, there was Amelia, dressed in the same gown and hairstyle she had shown them a week earlier.

"You clean up well," she joked, her American accent already in place.

"I do find my appearance to be…slightly above mediocre."

She snorted a laugh, and dismissed Pinky, who left with a _pop_.

"Nervous?" he asked.

"Terrified, I guess it just really hit me that I'm going to be socializing with people who think I'm dead."

"Yes, but you're not you now, are you Miss Grey?" he smirked, beginning to walk down the hall.

Though Severus loathe to admit it, he was nervous too. He could only imagine the attention Amelia's character was going to bring him this evening.

"I supposed you're right," she smirked back, following closely behind him.

As Severus and Amelia neared the Great Hall, a mixture of classical music and chatter hit their ears. Amelia's persona was not out of place, as several other Hogwarts students had brought dates from schools abroad as well. Sirius Black had even convinced a girl from Beauxbatons to attend with him, much to Marlene McKinnon's dismay.

There were several people who turned their heads at Severus Snape and his unknown escortee, but no one had the nerve to approach them as they gained a spot in the line of students pouring into the Great Hall.

"Do you mind if we join you?" a voice behind them said.

The two turned to find Emily and Regulus standing behind them.

"Of course," Amelia said, "pleasure to see you again, Regulus," she turned towards Emily, "I'm Evelyn by the way. Evelyn Grey."

"Emily Vanity," Emily said with a feigned smile, accepting the other girl's hand.

"Oh so _you're_ Emily! Severus told me all about you in his letters."

"He did?" Emily asked, taken aback, "of course he did."

Severus noticed the way that multiple pairs of eyes followed them, but no one had the nerve to ask about their newest member for quite sometime, until McGonagall swooped in.

"And who might you be dear?" she asked Amelia shortly after they entered the Great Hall.

"Evelyn Grey, professor. I'm a sixth year at Ilvermorny."

"Oh my, it has been quite sometime since we've had an American student visit Hogwarts. You're enjoying your visit I trust?"

"Yes, Hogwarts is much more exciting than my teachers at home could describe," she mused, "I haven't spoken to many people yet, though I hope that will change throughout the course of the evening."

McGonagall bid them farewell as other students entered the Hall, and the quartet found themselves sitting at a round table. Avery and Rosier eventually joined with their dates as well, and they were all making friendly conversation. The other Slytherin's were very interested in Amelia's persona, as none of them were very familiar with wizarding life in America.

"Are there a lot of purebloods in America?" Rosier asked.

"Actually, no. Things like the Salem Witch Trials deferred many wizarding families from settling in the New World. There were a few that were already there, like my dad's, and there are also several Native American families considered to be pureblood, but the attitude surrounding blood purity definitely plays a much larger role here than it does at home."

"So are there a lot of Mudbloods at your school?" Avery asked.

"Much like here, there are a lot more half-bloods than anything else," was all Amelia said in reply.

 **XXXXX**

Lily had taken a break from dancing to get a drink with Marlene. She was enjoying her night with Remus, even more so when James Potter was a bit put out by seeing her arrive with him.

Marlene had been horrendously upset that Sirius had brought a French girl to the dance, and had opted to come with James since she figured it would annoy Sirius the most, but so far into the evening, her plan was not having the desired effect. Mary Macdonald was with some lad from Hufflepuff.

When they approached the area with refreshments, they saw several Slytherin girls huddled near each other.

"I want to hate her, I really do, but she's just so _bloody_ nice!" Emily Vanity exclaimed.

"Did you see the way the boys were looking at her?" Patricia Parkinson asked, "It's like the sun shines out her arse."

"Well, to be fair, she is rather interesting. I mean, how often do you get to meet a witch or wizard from a different school?" Angelica Greengrass added.

"Who do you reckon they're talking about?" Marlene asked.

Lily hesitated, "No idea."

They took a handfull of butterbeers back to their dates, where James and Sirius were staring at the Beauxbaton's Adalene Lemaire in a similar fashion to the way Patricia Parkinson had described the Slytherin men. Remus appeared to be people watching.

Remus thanked Lily for the butterbeer, and asked her if she was ready to dance again. When she shook her head, they continued chatting.

Eventually, the classical music got more lively, and one by one each pair of Hogwarts students began to return to the dance floor. Marlene was about to suggest to James that they return as well, when what she saw over Lily's shoulder stopped her in her tracks.

" _Who_ is _that?_ " she asked, pointing behind Lily's shoulder.

The six of them turned to face the direction she was pointing, and immediately saw what she meant. A pale, dark haired girl in a lavender dress was dancing with Regulus Black.

"I thought little Reggie brought Vanity to the ball?" Sirius asked.

"He did," Remus confirmed, "I saw them together earlier."

As the present song ended and the next was beginning, they all watched as the unknown girl had left the company of Regulus and headed towards a round table full of Slytherins, including the girls Marlene and Lily had heard talking earlier. She was pulling on the outstretched arm of someone at the table, seemingly urging them to join her on the dance floor.

Sirius made the realization first.

"Snivellus," he muttered.

"What spell do you suppose he's got her under?" James asked.

They all continued watching as the girl danced with a very reluctant Snape. The girl put his hand on her waist, and seemed to lead him in some sort of quickstep variation.

"She's very pretty," Marlene commented.

"And she's American," a Hufflepuff girl at the table next to them said, "I heard her say to Professor McGonagall that she's a sixth year at Ilvermorny."

The others continued to talk amongst themselves, but Lily couldn't stop looking at the girl. Marlene was right, she was very pretty. She watched as the girl said something to Severus, making him throw his head back in a genuine laugh, and focused her gaze on the crumpled napkin in her hands instead.

 **XXXXX**

"Severus!" he heard a voice call out to him, seeing his date rush towards him.

She tugged at him arm, "Come on! I want to get one dance in with you."

"I don't think that's the best idea," he said.

"Oh c'mon Snape," Rosier said, smacking his shoulder lightly, "You can't expect a pretty lady to come all the way here for you not to dance with her."

Severus sighed, allowing Amelia to tug him out of his chair.

"What are you doing?" he hissed through his teeth.

"Having fun. We'll need to be a little bit closer, like this," she smirked, putting his hand on her waist.

"I can't do this," he murmured.

"Sure you can, just follow my lead."

Severus wasn't sure how his feet knew where to go, but he knew he wasn't as horrendous at dancing as Avery was.

"How do you know how to do this?" he asked.

"Most of my experience comes from waiting in line for the bathroom, growing up with six siblings really has its advantages," she joked.

He was surprised by how hard he laughed at that, and was beginning to feel less self-concious. The other Slytherins were beginning to approach the floor with their dates as well, and Emily looked far less bitter than she had at the beginning of the evening.

When the music faded into a waltz, Severus was relieved. At least he had an idea of what the steps were.

He really was enjoying his evening with Amelia. She was, truthfully, very funny, and just the right amount of spontaneous. His housemates had been impressed with her, and seemed to be tolerating him for the moment.

He had seen Lily with Lupin, and was surprised that he wasn't as annoyed by it as he would have anticipated. At least it wasn't Potter.

He wasn't sure why he was caring so much about such petty things involving his schoolmates. It's not like they mattered anymore. He was going to be disappearing off the face of the Earth in less than two weeks after all.

 **XXXXX**

Towards the end of the night, more than just Slytherin House was interested in the mysterious girl accompanying Severus Snape to the ball.

Amelia had excused herself to get a drink, and when she reached the table, a Hufflepuff tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Ingrid Cattermole. My friends and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for a minute?"

Amelia smiled at the familiar face and nodded.

She was whisked away to a table full of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.

"What's your name?" a Ravenclaw asked.

"Evelyn Grey."

"Pureblood," another Ravenclaw confirmed.

"Do you really go to Ilvermorny?"

She nodded.

There was a beat of silence before a Hufflepuff blurted out, "How do you know Snape?"

Amelia smiled, twirling one her dark curls around her finger.

"I've known him for awhile actually. Our mothers were best friends in school, so we've more or less known each other since birth. You see, I was actually born in Britain, but when I was about eight my parents decided to relocate to the United States. Severus and I lost contact for a while after that, his dad didn't like owls being around the house, but we've reconnected recently."

"Are there many pureblood families in America?" Ingrid asked.

"Depending on who you ask, you'll get the answer of nine or thirteen. The records are a bit incomplete due to about half of the families being of Native American descent."

"Do you think that You-Know-Who's campaign could spread to America?" a Hufflepuff boy asked.

"Absolutely not," Amelia said, "Blood purity plays a much lesser role in wizarding society there than it does here. There are many more half-bloods and muggleborns in the United States. You-Know-Who's beliefs wouldn't be able to manifest enough of a hold to have any real impact there," Amelia said.

"But if blood purity doesn't play a big role like you claim, why are you here with Snape and interacting with Slytherin purebloods?" Ingrid asked.

"Yeah, you know Snape called Lily Evans a mudblood not even a year ago. She was his best friend," a muggleborn Ravenclaw said.

"I know, Severus told me. He showed me too, in a pensieve. I don't uphold the beliefs of his friends, but I also don't believe that something said in the midst of someone's most humiliating and most vulnerable moment should define who they are. From what I saw in the pensieve, everyone was laughing at him. No one was trying to help, they were too afraid of becoming a target themselves. You could even catch a smirk on Lily Evans' face before she rushed to help him. If I saw someone who claimed to be my best friend be amused at me being sexually assaulted, I don't think I'd have too many kind words for them either. Do you?"

A few of the Hufflepuffs sunk down in their chairs.

"My mother taught me to always be kind first, because you can always be mean later. But once you've been mean to someone, they won't believe the nice anymore. Just something to think about. I should probably get going, it's been really nice talking to you!"

The truth was she had actually seen Lily Evans smile herself, not being far from the girl when the event started to unfold. Regardless of the white lie, Amelia felt a bit accomplished seeing the guilt on the faces in front of her as stood to leave, but she didn't notice the redhead at the table behind her trying to hold back tears.

 **XXXXX**

Amelia was back at the table full of Slytherins, sitting next to Severus.

"Have a good night, Snape," a voice behind them said, smacking him on the shoulder.

She froze. She knew that voice.

Severus rolled his eyes, removing the hand, "Get outta here Mulciber."

Amelia's breathing quickened, and she pushed her chair back from the table rather aggressively.

"I need to leave," she whispered.

Severus rose from his seat, following her out of the Great Hall.

"Evelyn," he hissed, catching up to her, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I-I just need to..."

"Did Mulciber say something to you?"

Amelia shook her head, and sat down on one of the stairs not occupied by a group of crying girls.

"It was him, wasn't it? That's why you want to leave. I'll fucking kill him," Severus said, turning to head back down the stairs.

"Severus," she said, grabbing his wrist, "it wasn't him."

His eyes bore into hers for a moment, then he plopped down next to her, accepting what she'd said as fact. They sat in companionable silence for awhile, people watching.

"Is this git bothering you?"

It was Severus' turn to stiffen. He knew that voice.

"No," Amelia said, watching James Potter start climbing the stairs. Peter Pettigrew following close behind.

"Do you know what spell he has you under, love?" James asked.

"Yeah, you should probably come with us. We'll be able to lift it," Peter said, "then we can show you what fun is really like."

"I think I'll pass."

Peter grabbed her arm lightly and James opened his mouth to say something else, but Amelia sent him to the base of the stairs with a nonverbal _Petrificus Totalus_. She snatched her arm out of Peter's hand. .

"Don't touch me," she hissed dangerously.

Peter fled down the stairs, looking faint. In her peripheral vision, she saw Regulus, who was standing in the Great Hall's entryway, hit him with a jellylegs jinx. She snorted a laugh. Served him right.

* * *

 ** _Up next: Severus joins Amelia._**


	4. Chapter 4: Hogwarts' Second Murder

_**Hello friends! Thank you for joining me again. I hope you enjoy this chapter! As usual, I don't own these characters.**_

* * *

By the time that term resumed, the small amount of attention his housemates had displayed Severus during the Yule Ball had fizzled out. Avery and Rosier would talk to him occasionally, but for the most part, his only companions were still Regulus and Emily.

He walked to potions with Emily, barely listening to the drama going on between Patricia Parkinson and Garrison Goyle that she was going on about.

Ever since Lily had made it clear that she no longer wanted to speak with him, Emily had been his partner in every class that required one. Since they were in N.E.W.T level classes now, that mainly consisted of Defense Against the Dark Arts and occasionally Potions, both of which Emily was rather good at.

Emily and Severus joined the other Slytherins in the class, who were all in the center of the room, looking at a myriad of potions sitting upon a table.

"Good morning, I hope you all had the very best of holidays," Professor Slughorn said as he entered the room, "I myself enjoyed a nice time hunting with the Minister of Magic and the Malfoy patriarch and his son in Norway, but nevermind that. Let's get on with it."

Slughorn moved towards the center of the room, "As you see before you, I've prepared some concotions this morning, all being potions we will be working with this term. Any ideas what these might be?"

Emily immediately raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Vanity?"

She stepped up to one of the cauldrons, "That one there is Veritaserum, it's a truth telling serum. This one here is the Draught of Peace. It relieves anxiety and agitation, and many of us had experience with it last year prior to taking our O.W.L exams. This is Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. It's rumored to smell differently to each person depending on what attracts them. For example I smell…ocean mist and new parchment and…mahogany," she finished breathlessly.

"Now Amortentia cannot create actual love, that would be impossible. But it can create powerful infatuation or obsession, which is why it is perhaps the most dangerous potion in this room," Slughorn said, putting a lid on the simmering cauldron.

"Now, as I'm sure you all are aware, today's class is the one where I offer a vial of a peculiar little potion known as Felix Felicis. Better known as…"

"Liquid Luck," Lily interrupted.

"Yes, Miss Evans, Liquid Luck. This is what I offer you today, one vial of Liquid Luck to the student who, in the hour that remains, manages to produce an acceptable Draught of Living Death. The instructions for which can be found on page forty one of your books. Though, I should mention, I've never had a student be able to make a draught sufficient enough to claim this prize. But I do have high hopes for some of you. Off you go then."

The class came to life as they found their seats. Severus sat at a four-person table with Emily on his left, Avery on his right, and Rosier in front of him. He was confident in his abilities to brew an acceptable potion. He'd brewed this specific one three or four times beforehand, and had made his own corrections in his textbook.

Severus was breezing through the potion, but many people in his class were as well. He'd noticed Lily enthusiastically crushing her asphodel roots into a fine powder, and assisting Remus Lupin as he needed it. Out of all the Marauders, Severus was glad Remus had been the one to do well enough in potions to test into N.E.W.T level. Even though his inner wolf had almost killed Severus last year, at least he wasn't having to worry about Potter or Black sabotaging his work as they'd done in years past.

When the time came for the cutting of sopophorus beans, the rest of the class was having immense difficulty. Severus, having discovered that crushing the bean released the juice better during his most recent brewing of the potion, moved through the step with ease.

"How did you do that?" Emily asked, seeing him deposit the juice into the cauldron.

"Crush it, don't cut it."

"But the instructions specifically say to cut."

"Suit yourself," he said.

Avery had followed his suggestion immediately, trying to make up for the fact that he stirred his potion clockwise three times instead of two prior to adding the sloth brain.

As class was coming to an end, Slughorn began making his rounds. He gave praise to Lily and a boy named Percy from Hufflepuff. When he reached the table full of Slytherins, he didn't give Avery or Rosier's potions a second look, but he gave Emily similar praise to that of Lily and Percy.

Slughorn dropped a leaf in Severus' cauldron, and watched it disintegrate.

"Merlin's beard! It is perfect! I dare say one single drop would put even a Hungarian Horntail to sleep! Excellent, Mr. Snape. Truly excellent!" Slughorn beamed.

The class applauded politely when Slughorn presented Severus with the vial of Felix Felicis, Emily being more enthusiastic than the rest. Severus saw Lily roll her eyes. After Slughorn dismissed them, he and Emily exited the classroom together, heading towards the Great Hall to join Regulus for lunch.

"Whatcha gonna use that for Snape?" Avery asked, clapping him on the shoulder.

"If I were you, I'd save it for the next time Evelyn comes around," Rosier smirked suggestively.

"I don't think I need luck when it comes to her," Severus said.

"No way," Avery laughed loudly, "you got her to put out already?"

Severus shrugged.

Avery clapped him on the shoulder again, more enthusiastically this time, and continued down the hall with Rosier.

"They're vile," he said.

"Did you actually…?" Emily asked.

"No, Evelyn isn't like that. But it got them to go away, didn't it?"

Emily nodded, and they continued on their way to the Great Hall.

* * *

"No way! You got her to put out already?" Lily heard Avery say.

She watched Severus shrug, and Emily roll her eyes. The two Slytherin men took off down the hallway on the left, seemingly thrilled at whatever conclusion they had made.

She couldn't believe it. Severus and sex? Those thoughts just didn't mix well in her brain. Trying to imagine him being intimate with someone was difficult. He was so awkward. But if he had, well, it was a surprise. Lily herself hadn't even had sex before. She had figured that out of all areas of life, she'd have beaten Severus in that one. But Evelyn was, truthfully, very pretty. Even the men in Gryffindor Tower had gone on about her. Lily couldn't blame him. She just didn't like the feeling that it put in her stomach.

* * *

"You got it then?" Regulus asked as Emily and Severus took a seat at the Slytherin table.

Severus pulled the small vial from his robes, passing it to him. Regulus turned the vial over in his hands, holding it close to his eye. He rambled about the multitude of uses it possessed throughout the meal, spitting mashed potatoes at least twice.

Eventually, Emily excused herself to go to Care of Magical Creatures, leaving the two at the end of the Slytherin table, the three foot gap between them and everyone else still prominent.

"Are we still doing it on Friday night?"

Severus nodded.

"It'll be nice to see her again."

"You fancy her," Severus teased.

"Of course not, I barely know her," Regulus sniffed, handing the vial back to his friend.

* * *

It was Friday evening. The sun had set and the half moon was high in the sky. Regulus and Severus were walking to meet Amelia in the Forbidden Forest.

"Are you nervous?" Regulus asked.

"Not really. I can handle pain."

"We'll try not mess you up too bad."

They approached a clearing in the trees, not too far from Hagrid's hut. Amelia was waiting for them, not disguised this time around.

"Long time no see," she said, "I've been thinking, maybe it would be better if we didn't leave behind a body for them to find. They would take more time to investigate it, since it would be the second murder at Hogwarts this year, raising the chance they would decipher that it's only a transfigured version."

"But they need to think that he's dead," Regulus said.

"I know, but I think with a few proper spells we should be able to make this area look violent enough to where they would be unable to make any other conclusion other than it being murder. They won't be able to track Severus' movements or magic anymore to prove otherwise."

"True, the trace is gone," Regulus said, "how did you manage to bypass that?"

"Your cabin is still considered a wizarding household, and I never traveled by floo. The Ministry doesn't keep track of the movement of House Elves."

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Severus asked, having become annoyed with their banter.

Amelia cast _Muffliato_ around them, resulting in a snort from Severus.

"What?" she asked.

"That's my spell."

Regulus took the opportunity to cast a variety of spells, a few of them quite dark, at the trees around them, making them appear scortched or dead. Amelia was hesitant about casting spells at Severus, she didn't want to hurt him.

"Do you know any spells that will make you bleed? Besides _diffindo?_ " Amelia asked.

Again, Severus snorted, " _Sectumsempra._ "

"I've never heard of that," Amelia said.

"I created it."

Regulus was slashing branches off of trees and disturbing dirt, oblivious to their conversation.

"The counter-curse is _Vulnera Sanentur_. Trace your wand over the wounds and say it three times, and I should be fine."

" _Vulnera Sanentur_. Okay," she sighed, "This is going to hurt you, isn't it?"

Severus nodded.

"I'm really sorry about this, Severus… _Sectumsempra_ ," she yelled.

A white light shot out of her wand and straight at Severus, hitting him in the chest. He flew backwards, and hit the ground with a _thud_.

Amelia rushed over to him, he had landed on a branch that Regulus had cut off.

"Oh my god, I am _so_ sorry," she said frantically, noticing the red gashes becoming more apparent through his white shirt.

"It's…fine," he wheezed, " _Fuck._ The ground…should be…"

She looked around him and saw what he was trying to indicate. The ground and leaves were becoming increasingly soaked with his blood.

"Holy shit, what did you do to him?" Regulus exclaimed from behind her.

"Okay," she gulped, removing his scarf from around his neck and pushing his cloak out of the way, "okay."

"He's losing a lot of blood."

"I know!" Amelia snapped.

She took a steadying breath, and started tracing her wand over his wounds. She muttered the counter-curse in the same sing-song voice that Severus had demonstrated. After the third time, she saw his wounds knit themselves together. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Where the hell did you learn a spell like that?" Regulus asked.

"Severus told me to use it," she said in a small voice.

They both looked at the boy who was laying on a branch, his eyes closed, but still breathing. Regulus called Pinky, who disappeared with Amelia and a still unconscious Severus with a _pop!_

Regulus observed the scene around him. He cast a spell at the ground near where Severus had landed, turning more of the soil. The damaged trees, disturbed earth, and pool of blood was plenty to convince him that something bad had happened here, and he wasted no time getting back to the castle.

As he neared the dungeons, he passed by Evan Rosier, who seemed to be the prefect in charge of accounting for all of the Slytherins that evening.

He entered the common room, immediately being greeted by Emily.

"Where is Severus?" she asked.

"He's not back already?"

"No, I thought he was with you."

"He told me an hour ago that he was tucking in for the night, I've been in the library," he said.

Evan Rosier seemed to pick up on the same thing Emily had, and asked the entire common room if they had seen Snape recently. Everyone denied having seen him, and Avery confirmed he wasn't in their dormitory, causing Rosier to strut right down to Slughorn's office.

Slughorn immediately panicked, flooing straight to the Headmaster. He told Rosier to return to the Slytherin dormitories. No prefects would be joining in on this search.

* * *

It was early in the morning when Professor McGonagall had stumbled across the clearing that three students had been in earlier. She noticed the scorched trees, the missing branches, and the now dry pool of blood.

She signaled for Albus and the other professors, who were joined by three aurors and a Daily Prophet reporter.

One of the aurors began poking around the blood-soaked earth, and noticed something sticking out under a branch.

"What is that?" he asked aloud, poking his wand into the object.

He pulled it out, revealing a dirty, blood stained Slytherin scarf. He held it up for the professors to observe, each of them with a knowing look in their eye, and the reporter's camera flashed.

* * *

Amelia had instructed Pinky to place Severus in the master bedroom while she went to fetch things she felt she'd need. The basement of the Black cabin had been well stocked with various potions and salves, though it was clear that the area hadn't been disturbed in quite some time. Amelia wondered when the last time Regulus' family visited here.

She grabbed several tins of Star Grass salve as well as several vials of Blood-Replenishing Potion, Essence of Dittany, and Pain Reliving potion. Severus was still not conscious when she returned to the master bedroom, but she didn't waste any time tending to his wounds.

She coaxed a blood replenisher down his throat, and gently removed everything except his underwear and socks. His wounds still looked red and angry across his chest, but the dittany and star grass salve made them slowly disappear, with only a few small white lines remaining after several minutes. She looked over his body once more, and the appalling number of other scars on his body began to register in her brain. She sighed, and pulled the blanket up over his chest.

* * *

Regulus and Emily had been pulled from their dormitories and into Slughorn's Office at just past four in the morning. They were sitting at one of the tables Slughorn liked to use for his Slug Club gatherings, an auror sitting across from them. He slid the scarf across the table to them. Emily immediately picked it up.

"We found some evidence in the forest behind the castle. There was a disturbance in the earth, a lot of debris. Mostly broken branches and dead leaves. It appeared a duel had taken place there earlier in the evening."

"And Severus?" Regulus asked.

"We didn't find him, Mr. Black."

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Emily asked quietly, "I mean, you found Severus' scarf but you didn't find him, which means we don't even really know if he was there at all, right? I-I-I mean, t-that's preferable, right?" she spluttered.

The auror sighed, blinked slowly, and pursed his lips.

"We also found blood…a significant amount of blood. We doubt that anyone would be able to survive the loss of such a large quantity," he said, watching Emily's face crumple, "we're very sorry."

Emily immediately burst into sobs, while Regulus just sat there with a shocked look on his face.

"Professor Dumbledore intends to inform the rest of the students before breakfast begins this morning," the auror said.

Regulus thanked him, and the auror took back the scarf and flooed back to the Headmaster's Office. He wrapped a consoling arm around Emily, whose body continued to heave with sobs.

* * *

Amelia was awoken by a groan from the bed. She shot up from her spot on the floor, and pulled a chair closer to the bed. She watched Severus' eyes flutter open, trying to register where he was.

"Thank god I didn't kill you," she said, resulting in him turning his head towards her, "how are you feeling?"

"Like I just got hit by my own fucking spell."

"Here," she said, shoving a pain reliever and blood replenisher into his hands, "take this. I'll go get you some water."

Severus watched her leave, slightly dazed. He threw back the blanket covering him, and immediately noticed his lack of clothing. Growing self-conscious, he slipped the cover back over himself slowly.

"There's no need to hide," Amelia said, having returned to the room, "I've already seen them."

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered, slithering deeper into the blankets.

"That's okay, you don't have to. I understand."

"No, you don't," he said, taking the water she offered him.

To his surprise, Amelia snorted, and shoved up the left sleeve of her shirt, displaying the arm to him.

"That one was for disrespect," she said, pointing to one of many small, circle shaped scars littering her inner arm, "this was for telling my mother 'no'. That one was for breaking a plate while doing the dishes. This one was for turning my sister's hair blue."

She rolled up her other sleeve, revealing more circles. She pointed to the one exponentially larger than the others, "And this one here was for when Professor McGonagall came to my house, confirming to my parents that I was a witch, or as my father viewed it, a spawn of Satan."

She pushed her sleeves back down and pointed at the two vials she had handed him earlier, "Take those, you'll feel better," she said, and left the room.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading! As always, please leave a review if you enjoyed it!**_

 ** _Also, don't forget to check out my blog dedicated to this story on tumblr: snapes-patronus. You can find more information about it in my profile!_**

 ** _Up next: Hogwarts discovers Severus wasn't necessarily who they thought he was._**


	5. Chapter 5: A Shifting Perspective

_**Hello everyone! So sorry that this chapter took me so long to post. I moved back on campus on July 30th and started an intensive summer linguistics class on the 31st, so life has been a little chaotic since then. As a little way to show you how sorry I am, enjoy this long chapter.**_

XXXXX

There had been a wave of silence that swept over the Great Hall when Albus Dumbledore announced the attack on and presumed death of Severus Snape. When the Daily Prophet was dropped off several minutes later, confused chatter reeled the Great Hall back to life. The attack and death of Severus Snape, like Amelia Fitzpatrick's, was presumed to be the result of a Death Eater initiation. But, many wondered, why would Death Eaters kill someone who wanted to join them?

Being that it was a Saturday, most students were tittering around the castle. Many of them were discussing theories over what had happened to the greasy-haired Slytherin who'd seemed to walk a dark path.

Emily was trying to distract herself from her grief by pouring over the restricted section of the library, which she had been granted access to by Professor Slughorn. She walked over to the area of shelves containing books on the Dark Arts, which had become increasingly limited during her time at Hogwarts. Her eyes were devouring the early pages of _Magick Moste Evile_ when she heard the voices she had been working so hard to avoid./p

"To be honest, I think he dug a hole too deep with the Death Eaters and then tried to scram, that's why they killed him," Mary MacDonald said, sitting at a table near the other side of the shelf.

"That just doesn't add up though. Rosier's father gave information about the Death Eaters to the Ministry and he wasn't killed for it," Frank Longbottom argued.

Well, I'm just glad I don't have to see his ugly face in Defense anymore," Mary snorted.

Emily felt her eyes burn, and she shut her book slowly. She stood, and crept her way closer to the conversation.

"What do you think Lily?" Marlene asked.

"I…I don't know. I thought the whole essence of Slytherin house was remaining loyal to Slytherin and Slytherin only. It doesn't make sense as to why they would kill one of their own."

"Because he was outspoken," Emily mumbled, rounding the shelf.

"What was that, Vanity?" Frank asked.

I said _because he was outspoken_ ," Emily said, her voice cracking slightly, "you all seem to think that only Muggleborns are discriminated against in this school. But the people in Slytherin House say things just as horrible to the half-bloods in their house than they do to the Muggleborns outside of it."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

"Since you seem to lack the basic skills in realizing how the others in Slytherin have been alienating Severus, Regulus, and I all year, I don't think you warrant my time for this conversation."

"But you seemed to be getting on well with the other Slytherins at the Yule Ball," Mary pointed out.

"Ah yes, thank Merlin we were finally accepted back into Salazar's good graces because Severus chose to bring a pretty Pureblood girl to the ball, all of our negative remarks against the Dark Lord were just magically forgiven overnight," Emily rolled her eyes.

"I thought that's how it worked in Slytherin. You lust after a pureblood because they think it's the right thing to do," Mary said.

"Oh, so Severus deciding to date a Pureblood girl makes him a blood purist, but you all telling Lily to date James or Mary to date Sirius because they're better than the Half-Bloods in this school doesn't? James Potter decides to sexually assault a Half-Blood male in front of the entire school and you all get a good laugh, but then a Muggleborn girl is sexually assaulted four months later and you all make it into a tragedy? You're a bunch of fucking hypocrites," Emily spat, turning on her heel to leave,

"Emily, wait!" Lily called after her.

Emily whipped around, and pointed an accusatory finger at Lily.

"No, Evans. You don't get to pull that card. You don't get to stand there and pretend that you care about him after you denied the truth of his account of how Sirius Black tried to kill him last year, after you watched him be sexually assaulted by Prince Potter with a smirk on your face. You don't know who Severus was before he died. You only think you do, and it's the negative image that you've painted in your head of a kid who reads books on the Dark Arts and jokes about killing Muggles and throws the word Mudblood around in his every day speech. Whether you believe those things because your head is filled with Gryffindor propaganda or to make it easier for you to cope with your guilt, I'm not sure. If you must know, I never heard him use that word except for that day. Never before, nor after. And I saw him and lived in close proximity to him nearly every day for six years. Maybe if you were less busy trying to be a person that you're not with people that you find horrendously boring, you would have seen the signs that Slytherin House regarded Severus as a blood traitor. You couldn't even be bothered to fathom that perhaps Severus had turned into something other than the image you've painted in your head until this morning. So, forgive me, Lily, but you don't get to act like you care. None of you do."

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but realized she couldn't find a good argument to make. Emily was right. With a huff, the blonde Slytherin turned on her heel and left."Lily turned back to the table full of Gryffindors, and all of them were staring at her silently.

"Did he actually apologize to you?" Alice asked.

"Yeah," Lily said, "the night he was threatening Mary that he would sleep outside Gryffindor Tower if I didn't come out."

"You never told us that," Mary whispered.

"I didn't think it was very important. I was done with him."

XXXX

Sirius Black was currently strutting down the hall near the dungeons. He was trying to track down his younger brother, which proved to be horrendously difficult without the map. At lunch, Mary MacDonald had cued him in to the latest gossip surrounding Severus Snape, which included the fact that the git had tried to apologize to Lily after he called her that awful word. It took Sirius Black about a half an hour after he left lunch to corner his younger brother in the hallway.

"What happened to Snivelly?"

""I don't know."

"Oh, really? Your only friend is blasted off the face of the earth by the same Death Eater scum you eat breakfast with, and you're going to try to tell me that you don't know?" Sirius laughed.

"You know, Padfoot," James Potter approached, "I think Snivelly got in a little too deep with the Death Eaters, and decided he wanted out. That's why they killed him."

"And to think that either of you would have any sort of sympathy. Not that I should be surprised, considering you tried to murder him last year," Regulus snorted.

"Oh c'mon, that was just a prank. He was lucky Prongs was there to save him."

"Call it what you want, it still wasn't funny," Regulus said, "You lot claim to be so righteous and mighty, but when you consider the things you've done over the last six years, I think you'll find that you're not any better than the very people you claim to hate."

Regulus attempted to push by the two boys, only to be blocked by their bodies.

"Death Eaters deserve what they got from us," Sirius said.

"Ah yes, because all eleven-year-olds sorted into Slytherins definitely have established political beliefs and deserve hexes in the bathroom."

"You did," Sirius said.

"You haven't been paying much attention to what's been happening in Slytherin lately, have you?"

Both Gryffindors gave him a puzzling look.

"Have you failed to notice the inherently large gap between my friends and everyone else at the Slytherin table this year?

"We just figured they got tired of looking at your ugly faces," Sirius laughed.

"A few days into the year, Snape made a remark in the common room that denounced the Dark Lord. Everyone heard it. They alienated him, and since Emily and I continued to associate with him afterwards, we were treated the same way. Snape didn't have any friends in Slytherin besides Emily and I."

"Everyone seemed to be pretty cozied up during the Yule Ball," Sirius said.

"Everyone was interested in Evelyn, not Snape."

The Gryffindors were unsurprised.

"It doesn't matter who Snape was with," Regulus continued, "he was still considered a filthy Half-Blood and a blood traitor by the majority of Slytherin House because he continuously denounced the Dark Lord."

"What do you think about him? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Sirius asked.

"The same as you, but I hardly doubt you believe that. You've had your assumptions about me for years just because I'm in Slytherin."

"You expressed your desire to join the Death Eaters when you were a second year!" Sirius accused.

"Did you think I wanted to be disowned too? Did you think I wanted Mum and Dad to treat me the way that they treated you? I said what I had to so that I could still have a place to come home to."

"Regardless, Snape still called Evans that filthy word last year. That proves he was a Death Eater," James said.

"And he apologized for it not even a half a day later. Death Eaters don't do that," Regulus responded.

"That's not true!" James exclaimed.

"Yes, it is, Prongs," Sirius sighed.

"Evans would have said something!"

"She told Snape that she wasn't interested, and to leave her alone, which he did. Maybe you could take a page or two from his book, Potter."

Regulus was able to successfully push through the two boys this time, and made his way back to the dungeons. James and Sirius watched as he departed, both of them more confused than before.

XXXXX

Amelia was sitting on the deck of the Black Cabin, puffing on a cigarette and staring at the ants making their way around her feet. This was something she often did when she was having a hard time coping and didn't have enough effort left in her to play music. She heard the door open behind her, but made no effort to greet the figure approaching her.

"That shit'll kill you, you know," Severus said, sitting down next to her.

"Amelia snorted in response, still staring at the black insects on the ground.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Well, my sense of smell is becoming increasingly disgusted the longer I sit here. But other than that, just a bit sore," he joked.

"I know what you're thinking. Ironic, isn't it? Being addicted to the only thing that ever caused me pain?"

Severus wasn't sure how to respond.

"Do you like it here?" he asked.

"Not really."

They sat in silence for a while, Amelia staring at ants and Severus looking at the trees in front of them.

"You didn't have to show me, you know. Your…scars," Severus said, breaking the silence.

"I know," she said, smothering the cigarette butt under her boot.

"Why did you?" he asked.

"You were bound to see them eventually, better to clear up any misconceptions now rather than later. You know," she said, lighting another cigarette, "I have a sister that's a witch too. Her name is Evangelina."

"Amelia breathed smoke out of her nose, "She's six years younger than me. She'll be starting at Hogwarts in September."

"That's extremely rare, two Muggleborns in the same family."

"I know."

"Did your parents…?"

"Burn the shit out of her arms too? No."

"Why not?"

"I threatened to curse my father into oblivion the first time he dragged her into his office to teach her a lesson about what she was. She'd turned my mother's apron a horrendous shade of yellow during Christmas dinner because she was angry that Mother hadn't prepared any mince pies. She was five."

"I don't have any siblings."

"I have more than enough for both of us," she said.

"What are they like?"

"Well, there's Pamela, then me, then Thomas, Phoebus, Evangelina, Augustus, and Jessica. Pamela is an eighteen-year-old snob, who always looks like she's smelling something awful. Thomas and Phoebus are twelve-year-old twins, and are awful little gits. They used to throw rocks at me before I came to school to see if they could stone me to death. Evangelina is…magnificent. She's absolutely brilliant for only being ten, and she's so very kind. But people like Pamela like to take advantage of that. Augustus is horrendously shy, and mainly stays up in his room and reads after he finishes his chores. He's only six, but he learned to read chapter books by the time he turned four. Jessica was only two when I came here, she'll be three soon. But she's a very happy toddler."

"Do you miss them?" he asked.

"Not really, Evie and Jessie of course, but the others never tried to make me feel welcome or loved after my _hellish_ nature was exposed. Do you miss anyone?"

"No."

"Not even Lily?"

"Severus hesitated, opening his mouth only to close it again.

"It's okay if you do."

"No, it's not. I never deserved her."

Amelia snapped her head away from the ants and towards him, "You're joking, right?"

He shook his head.

"Look, if it's about that day, everyone can understand why you said what you did. Or at least, I can."

"There was no excuse to call her what I did."

"If I saw my best friend's face twitching with a smile while witnessing my sexual assault, I wouldn't have too many kind words for them either."

Severus' eyes flashed and his nostrils flared.

"That is still not an excuse. I don't know what I was thinking. If I even _was_ thinking. She was trying to help me."

"Well, she thought James Potter was being pretty funny before she tried to help."

"Oh, shut up!" he barked.

"Strike a nerve, did I?"

"Potter has nothing to do with it."

"I think he has everything to do with it, you just won't admit it to anyone but yourself."

"Just like you won't admit who raped you?" he snapped.

"Amelia's body went rigid, and her eyes flashed with hurt. She promptly used the wood beneath her body to put out her cigarette.

"Fuck you," she said, her voice cracking slightly. She stood, and tossed the half-smoked cigarette into an empty flower pot near the door. Severus could hear the cabin windows rattle when she slammed the door shut.

XXXXX

Lily was a mess. She had rushed out of the library shortly after her conversation with Emily, unable to cope with the emotions the girl's words had caused her to feel. Emily had been right, she hadn't known who Severus was before he died. Lily felt like her whole life had been blown wide open, and everything she thought over the last year had been a lie.

James Potter had burst into the Gryffindor common room earlier in the evening, demanding to know if Severus had indeed apologized to her that day. When Lily admitted that he had tried to, James looked like his head might explode. He just couldn't wrap his head around it. Lily herself had been reliving the memory all day.

 _"I'm sorry."_

 _"I'm not interested."_

 _"I'm sorry!"_

 _"Save your breath! I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."_

 _"I was. I would have done it. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just…"_

 _"Slipped out? It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"_

 _He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking._

 _"I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."_

Lily remembered how he'd been struggling to get words out of his mouth as she turned her back on him to return to Gryffindor Tower. How, for the first time in their lives, she had rendered him speechless by her anger. She'd never been able to do that before. At the time, she viewed it as his way of admitting guilt. Now, she was wondering if it was him giving up, because deep down, he knew he wouldn't win.

She'd overheard Sirius and James recounting to Peter and Remus about how Regulus admitted he did not sympathize with Voldemort.

"He's mental if he thinks I'll ever believe that lie. He's a bloody Slytherin for Merlin's sake! They all sympathize with him!" Sirius had said.

Lily had also thought back to what Evelyn had said at the Yule Ball, about how Severus had shown her the memory, and that she didn't judge him for what he had said in his most humiliating and exposed moment.

Between her house's obvious prejudice against Slytherin becoming more and more prominent to her as the day went by, and the overwhelming evidence that Emily's statement was true presenting itself to her, Lily eventually broke down, and had ended up a heaving mass on the bathroom floor just before dawn.

XXXXX

"Will we have to close the school, Albus?"

"It may become a possibility, Minerva," Dumbledore said, standing over his pensieve, "but if Hogwarts cannot keep the children safe from the followers of Lord Voldemort, what can?"

"Nothing," Professor Sprout sighed.

Dumbledore plunged his head into the clear liquid, and immediately, memories of a dead were swimming before him. The two ladies departed from the office, realizing that they were not wanted nor needed.

 _Amelia was sitting on the steps of her porch, and looked up quizzically when she saw a lady in a maroon suit and a black sunhat walking up the dirt drive. Amelia was in a flower-printed sundress, her sandy hair pulled back into two braids. She didn't have any shoes on._

 _"Who are you?" she asked the stranger._

 _"I'm Professor McGonagall."_

 _"I'm Amelia."_

 _"Oh! Just the person I was hoping to see. Are your parents in?"_

 _"Dad is out. Mum is upstairs with the baby," she murmured._

 _McGonagall pursed her lips._

 _"I know why you're here," Amelia said, "they've been wanting me to be exorcised for months now."_

 _McGonagall's eyebrows flew to her hairline, "and why would they want that?"_

 _"To get rid of the evil that lives inside of me. The evil that makes me do wicked things," Amelia said, sinking back against the stair._

 _"What could you possibly do that would make them think such a thing?"_

 _"I can make my sister's hair change colors when she's being mean to me. I can make my brothers' rocks fly back at them when they throw them at me."_

 _"Well, I think you will be pleased to know that I am not here to exorcise you, I am here to give you this," McGonagall said, pulling an envelope from thin air._

 _Hogwarts. Never heard of it," Amelia said, observing the school seal on the back of the envelope._

 _"That's because Hogwarts is a school, a school of magic."_

 _Amelia's eyes immediately lit up, and she smiled up at the older woman._

 _"I can read minds too. I look at people, and I can see all of their memories. Is that normal for someone like me?" she asked, blue eyes meeting each other._

 _"Oh," McGongall gasped, taken aback, "my child, you mustn't do that when school begins. It is very rude to enter a witch or wizard's mind without their permission."_

The memory dissolved before him, and Dumbledore raised his head out of the basin. It was curious. Natural legilimens were quite rare even in magical families. He had heard of the girl's ability before from Professor Oberon, but he was unaware that she had possessed so much power at such a young age. Perhaps that was why she was targeted.

He placed the memory back into it's vial, and pulled out another one, this one referring to Severus Snape. He uncorked the vial, watched it flow in an array of black lines, and dunked his head in.

XXXXX

You won't fucking cry Amelia thought to herself, trying to put up her mental shields.

She hadn't meant to slam the door so hard.

The thing she loved the most about the Black Cabin was that no one could ask her anything that she didn't want to answer. She could simply occlude her emotions and memories away, deep into the depths of her mind where no one could ever find them.

Her first night at the cabin, she had sat in the tub for hours, scrubbing her skin raw in an attempt to erase what had happened to her. It hadn't worked, and eventually, when she had finally put the sponge down in defeat, she'd realized that she was hyperventilating and that her hands were shaking. When she'd finally exited the tub, she had caught a glance of how broken she looked in the mirror. It was in that moment that she decided that she would never tell anyone who had been the person to make her feel the way that she looked in that instant. She would never tell anyone how broken he made her feel, how vulnerable. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

It was what she loved so much about becoming Evelyn. In that persona, she wasn't a victim. She wasn't someone who had been targeted for her blood status. She wasn't someone who was ignored by her classmates for being Muggleborn. Evelyn was poised and elegant. Evelyn was brilliant and fearless. As Evelyn, she could move mountains. She easily gained the ears of those around her, and they actually listened to what she had to say. The same Slytherins who had set her homework on fire for years and had carved that horrible word all over her things, had been sitting in front of her and willing to listen to every word that escaped her lips at the Yule Ball. Being Evelyn meant power. Being Evelyn meant that Amelia could step out of her own problems and into someone else's, even if it was only for a temporary amount of time.

Amelia wiped a stray tear from her cheek, and cast charms to make it look like there were shooting stars on her bedroom ceiling. She hadn't expected Severus to snap at her like that. Normally, she was very good at reading people, but she had trouble with him and Regulus. She suspected that they too had learned the art of Occlumency.

She heard Severus re-enter the cabin, and while she wasn't in the mood to speak with him, the lock spell on her door did not deter him for long.

"Stars?" he asked, looking up at her ceiling.

"Charms spell. I'm just practicing," she responded, a quiver still evident in her voice.

"Severus leaned against the doorway, "I was a foul git earlier."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I have this tendency to lash out at people when they make me feel uncomfortable. You bringing up Potter and Lily earlier made me feel li…please stop trying to read my mind," he sighed, looking away from her.

"I'm sorry, it's easier to do when people are feeling negative emotions like guilt or sadness."

His head snapped back to her, "You mean to tell me that you can do legilimency without a wand?"

Amelia nodded, "I've always been able to, for as long as I can remember. I showed Professor McGonagall how easily I could do it when she dropped off my Hogwarts letter, but she told me not to do that at school."

"Fascinating. You know, the Dark Lord is supposedly a legendary legilimens."

"He wasn't born with the skill like I was, he learned it in school. Or so Professor Oberon said. He helped me gain access to books on the Mind Arts in the Restricted Section."

"You were good at Astronomy?" he asked, pointing to the stars.

"Professor Oberon said that I was his best student of the last fifty years. There's something about my brain that just allows me to remember maps, so my hypothesis is that some aspect of that trait aids in remembering stars and constellations as well."

"I was rubbish at it."

"Well, I'm absolutely dismal at potions, so at least we balance each other out."

Severus snickered.

"No, really. I'm the kid who blew up a basic healing salve in third year because I added lemongrass instead of star grass."

"Severus gave a hearty laugh, "You're joking!"

"Amelia shook her head with a small smile.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, I was…"

"Don't ruin an apology with an excuse," she said, "the best apology is changed behavior."

XXXXX

 _ **Up next: Regulus learns a critical piece of information that goes right over his head and Lily starts to obsess over death. I hope you all enjoyed. If you liked it, stop by and leave a review. While you're at it, check out my sideblog for this story, snapes-patronus on tumblr.**_


	6. Chapter 6: Times Are Changing

_**Hello everyone! I hope all is well. This chapter was a hard one to write, because I regard it very much so as a filler chapter (hence why it's a little short), but more action will be coming in the next chapter!**_

* * *

 _It was March. Severus and Amelia had settled nicely into sharing the Black Cabin, Regulus was preparing for his OWLs. with Emily's aid, but Lily was struggling._

* * *

"How about this one?" Amelia asked, pointing to a name in _The Sacred Thirteen: The Book of American Pureblood Families_.

Severus shook his head.

"We're running out of options."

"Sorry, we can't all conveniently stumble across an identity to steal."

"What about Australian wizards?" she asked.

He shrugged.

She gave an annoyed sigh, and _accio_ ed a large, red leather book; _The Sacred 17: The Book of Australian Pureblood Families._ They had made it to last names starting with C before they came across anything.

"Here's one!" Amelia exclaimed, "Charles Colbung is nineteen years old, and he attended the Macropus Academy of Magic in Australia. He's currently studying to be a Potion's Master in Mongolia."

"Charlie," Severus smirked.

* * *

It had been two months since Severus had been presumed dead, but Lily just could not wrap her head around it. It still didn't make sense to her. Even if Severus hadn't been expressing prejudice against Muggleborns like Emily claimed, he wasn't one to get himself in a situation that he didn't think he could manage. Same with Amelia. Lily hadn't known the girl very well, but from what Remus had told her, Amelia was a very bright girl. It didn't help that Dumbledore and the Ministry appeared to be making little to no progress on tracking down the culprits.

"Earth to Lily," Marlene called, waving her hand in front of her friend's face.

Lily looked up from her porridge, "Sorry," she mumbled, returning her attention to her friends.

"You've been acting odd recently," Mary commented, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"You're still not on about Snape, are you?" Marlene asked.

Lily didn't respond.

"Look, Lily. What happened to Snape and Amelia was awful, there's no denying that, but you can't live your life like this."

"Like what?"

"Obsessing over this. They're never coming back, Lily."

"You think I don't know that?" she huffed, leaving the table.

* * *

Regulus and Emily were in the library together. Emily had been tutoring him in Defense Against the Dark Arts recently, since he wanted to do as well as possible on his OWLs.

"Have you ever heard of this?" Emily asked, jabbing her finger into _Magicke Moste Evile._ She had been pouring over the text for a few months, only able to digest so much of it at a time.

"A Horcrux?" Regulus asked.

Emily nodded, "Apparently, it can be any object in which a person can hide a piece of their soul. It supposedly helps one become closer to immortality."

"No, I haven't heard of it, and if you wanted those nasty rumors to stop, you'd turn that book in."

Emily snorted. Two weeks prior, a pair of Hufflepuffs caught a glance at what she had been reading, and had been telling the whole school of how one of Severus Snape's only friends was now a Death Eater.

"Well, what I've been reading has helped improve your score in Defense, has it not?" she asked.

Regulus rolled his eyes.

"If we're going to finish school only to be thrust into a warzone, we need to know what we're up against. Death Eaters aren't afraid to use things like this," Emily said, gesturing to her book.

"You sound just like Snape," he muttered.

* * *

That night, Amelia was helping Pinky in the kitchen when she heard the familiar sound of apparition in the sitting room.

"You're back!" Amelia exclaimed gleefully, rushing over to where Regulus had appeared with Kreacher.

Regulus gave her a joking bow.

"How are things back at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Absolutely dismal, where's Snape?"

"In the study. Why has school been so awful?"

"Just the typical anti-Slytherin attitude everyone has. This group of Hufflepuffs is determined that Emily is a Death Eater because of some Dark Arts book that she checked out from the library."

"Emily Vanity has dived into the realm of Dark Magic?" Severus asked from behind them.

"You seem to have rubbed off on her," Regulus said, "she says we need to know what we're up against."

"Well, she's not wrong," Amelia interjected, "Not that we need to worry about that, eh?"

Regulus raised his eyebrow.

"Severus and I have been thinking, what if we went to Paris after you're done with your OWL exams?" she asked.

"Sounds lovely."

"We need to learn how to apparate first," Severus mumbled.

"I'm working on it."

"How so?" Regulus asked.

"I'm trying to forge some documents that would provide the necessary identification for us to be able to enroll in an apparition class at the Ministry," she said.

"It is not as easy as it sounds," Severus added.

"Wizarding documentation is much more complicated than I initially thought, but I'm sure if it doesn't work out we'll be able to procure a portkey."

"Oh, I'm sure you could get anything through the Ministry at this point," Regulus snorted.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"Do you really think that the Ministry does anything? Look at your disappearances. They haven't done shit about them, nor has Dumbledore," Regulus spat.

"Did you really expect them to?" Amelia asked, "Severus nor I had anyone that would miss us."

* * *

Apparently, Regulus had spoken too soon. He hadn't even been able to return to the dungeons before Fawkes appeared before him, ushering him up to the headmaster's office. He walked in, only to be faced with aurors Golbeer and Calhoun.

"Mr. Black, what can you tell me about the night of Severus Snape's disappearance?" Golbeer asked.

"The last time I saw Snape was in the library, we were studying together, he was helping me with potions, but I left before him."

"Do you know of anyone who would try to harm Mr. Snape?"

"Oh, I don't know, James Potter, perhaps? Or my brother, Sirius? They've tormented Snape for years."

"What about people in your own house?" Calhoun asked.

"Slytherins wouldn't kill one of their own."

"And what makes you implicate Mr. Potter and the other Mr. Black?"

"It may or may not have to do with the fact that they tried to kill him with a werewolf last year," Regulus said, "I'm sure you could ask the headmaster all about that."

Both pairs of auror eyes shot up from their notepads.

"Thank you, Mr. Black, that will be all."

"You mean to tell me, Albus, that not only did you allow a werewolf to attend this school, but that he almost killed a student? And you didn't think it pertinent to tell any of this to the Ministry?" Calhoun hissed.

"What happened was a very unfortunate incident, but Mr. Lupin is an exemplary young man. The fact that the older Mr. Black decided to use him in a prank does not detract from that."

"A _prank_? Severus Snape has been missing for two months and you thought it to be a good idea to leave out the key piece of information where another student has tried to kill him before?"

Dumbledore sighed.

* * *

The following afternoon, Lily was sitting in Charms next to a very twitchy Peter Pettigrew.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, Professor Flitwick squeaking in the background.

"J-James and Sirius were called down to Professor Dumbledore's office to speak with the aurors this morning. Moony and I haven't seen them since."

Lily turned her head, and realized that Potter and Black were not in their usual spot at the back of the class.

"Why were they called down?"

"The aurors are questioning them about Snive…Snape."

"Why would they be doing that?" she hissed, gathering her things.

"It may have to do with the incident with Moony last year, but I'm…I should not have said that," he murmured, scurrying away.

Lily's eyes widened as she began making the connections.

 _Moony. Remus. Last year. Incident. The Whomping Willow. Sev's theory. Werewolf. Remus is a werewolf._

She raced out of the classroom, her platform sandals slapping on the stone ground. Her own words began echoing in her ears.

 _"You're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night._ _You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there – "_

" _Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too!_ " Severus had said.

Lily sat down on a bench near the Great Hall with a _thud_. She was so stupid. Severus had tried to tell her what had happened, but she had grown angry with him instead.

She waited until she saw Remus to make her move.

"I cannot believe you," she hissed, cornering him in a side hallway.

"Lily, I…what?"

"You knew, you knew this whole time and you didn't think to tell anyone."

"Know what?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"I know what you are, Remus. I know that you're a werewolf, and I know that Sirius Black tried to use you to kill Severus last year."

Remus' eyes widened, "what?" he gasped.

"Peter told me."

"No, no. I don't care about you knowing about me, but, Sirius?"

"You don't know," Lily realized.

Remus shook his head.

"I don't think I'm the person who should tell you this."

"Tell me."

"Last year, Severus was getting curious about your…condition. He had picked up on you being sick during the full moon every month, so he started poking around. Apparently, Sirius tipped him off about the Whomping Willow, and somehow, Severus found his way down there. According to James' version of the story, he pulled Severus out just in time."

By the time she finished, Remus was pacing back and forth, obviously fuming.

"Remus?" she asked gently.

"Fuck!" he yelled, throwing the book he was holding against the wall.

"It's not your fault, Remus."

"Yes, it is, Lily. I trusted them with something, and they took advantage of it. And for what? To get a good laugh? I could have _killed him._ "

"Severus tried to tell me, but I didn't believe him. I was more upset over Mulciber using Dark Magic on Mary earlier in the week."

"Did you ever believe him about anything when it came to those two?" Remus snapped.

"Remus, I…"

"Just forget it, Lily."

She watched as he stalked off down the hall, leaving the book with a now dented spine on the ground.

* * *

 _ **Sorry that not much action happened in this chapter, but next time Lily will be spiraling deeper into her obsession with Amelia and Severus' disappearances, and the Golden Trio will soon be making their way out of Wizarding Britain.**_

 _ **Don't forget to check out & follow my side blog dedicated to this story: snapes-patronus on tumblr! You can request one shots or just see things that I use for character or setting reference!**_


	7. Chapter 7: Sectumsempra

_**Hello everyone. Thank you for your patience regarding this chapter. I hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

Regulus cracked his neck, walking out of his Defense OWL. It had been his last exam, and he would be leaving on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow. Emily was right, the exam wasn't as difficult as he had been expecting. There had actually been several questions on necromancy, which had thrown off many of his classmates judging by their conversations after the exam, but Emily's copy of _Magicke Moste Evile_ had prepared him for that.

He entered the Great Hall, sitting at the end of the Slytherin table closest to the door. He watched as Barty Crouch Junior sat down next to Mulciber, just a few feet away from him. He began catching pieces of their conversation, which intrigued him.

"…now would be the time to call in your connection to your cousin, Avery."

"And why should I do that?"

"You want in with the Dark Lord before your 7th year begins, right? Well, Father's latest intel from the Ministry says that Bellatrix Lestrange has been given an object very important to the Dark Lord. If your cousin is truly that close in his inner circle, now is the time to act. Get your initiation ceremony."

Avery nodded, and turned his back to Barty. Barty left the table, and Regulus shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't surprising that Barty was attempting to use his father's connections in the Ministry to attempt to step into the favor of other future Death Eaters.

Early the next morning, Regulus surveyed his dormitory, taking in one last look to imprint on his mind. It was odd, knowing that he wouldn't be returning to the castle in the coming autumn. Soon, he placed his trunk on the train platform, and boarded the scarlet locomotive for the last time. He sat in a compartment with Emily, a bittersweet feeling washing over him. Emily was a good friend, and while he was glad to be leaving Hogwarts permanently, he would miss her.

When the train reached London, he said a farewell to Emily, and headed to 12 Grimmauld Place. He was greeted by an enthusiastic Kreacher, who told him that his parents were waiting for him at the dinner table.

Walking into the dining room, his parents greeted him warmly. They shared polite small talk, and when they asked about his summer plans, he simply stated that he would be travelling to Paris. When they inquired as to why, he stated how he had been writing a pureblood girl from Beauxbatons, and had wanted to begin courting her. This absolutely delighted his parents, who had both been in foul moods since Sirius had run away last year.

After dinner, he retreated to his room, where he planned on waiting until his parents went to sleep to apparate with Kreacher to his family's cabin. When they arrived at the cabin, he instructed Kreacher to tell his parents that he had left for Paris, and was unsure as to when he would return.

He took a breath, sent Kreacher away with a _pop_ , and pushed open the cabin door.

* * *

It was three in the morning, and Lily couldn't sleep. She had been staring at her ceiling for hours, contemplating all of the events occurring in her life. When she had arrived home from Hogwarts earlier in the day, her parents had been happy, but Petunia was disgusted. She had despairingly voiced at dinner about how Vernon wouldn't be able to come over now that the freak was home. Lily had just rolled her eyes, and huffed up to her room after dinner. She had been in her bed ever since.

Recently, she had begun having nightmares about finding Amelia's body again, which was a lot of the reason why she couldn't sleep. She just couldn't shake the thought from her mind. During the most recent nightmare, Lily awoke realizing that there was something about Amelia's eyes that seemed so familiar, as though she had seen them on someone else. She shook her head.

 _It's not possible,_ she thought, _Amelia is dead. Severus is dead too._

Severus. She still could not believe that he was dead too. Petunia had snorted to herself when she had heard the news, but her parents were sympathetic.

It was driving her mad that no leads had been discovered in regards to Severus' disappearance and death. It'd been nearly six months, yet the aurors could find nothing, though they insisted that they had been searching.

 _His trunk,_ she thought, _where did his trunk go?_

Her mind only came to one conclusion.

 _His house. Surely they must have given his things to his parents._

On an impulse, she jumped out of bed. She just had to know. She had to know if there were any clues as to his disappearance in his things. She threw on a jacket and a pair of sneakers, and began climbing out her open window.

She made her way down the street, walking about a half mile before the economic status of the neighborhood began to take an obvious downward turn. She neared the river, and began cutting through backyards along the bank, just as she had as a child. She crossed the rickety bridge that led to the other side of the river, and found herself on Spinners End. She had only been to Severus' house twice, both visits occurring only due to the rare occasion that both of his parents were out of the house.

She knew which house was his, but the darkness and sleep deprivation made it take a little longer than she expected. As she approached the back of the house, she noticed that the entire house was dark, darker than the other houses on the street. The screen door on the back of the house was unlocked, allowing her easy access into the house. She entered in the kitchen, which was filthy. There was a myriad of dishes piled up in the sink, the stench of rotting food, and an overall mustiness that she wasn't quite sure how to describe. She crept through the house quietly, coming across a larger man sleeping on the couch. On the table in front of him were beer bottles and some sort of drug paraphernalia.

Lily continued her trek through the sitting room, making her way by the front door and up the stairs. Each stair creaked as she stepped on it, resulting in an increase in adrenaline.

As she neared the top of the stairs, one door was open, showing a relatively grimy bathroom with horrible boogey green tile. She had remembered that Severus' room had been on the left of the bathroom, and so she opened that door.

She could feel the wards on this door, but they did not prevent her from entering the room. She frowned slightly when she realized how much tidier it was than the rest of the house. She remembered that during her previous visits here, the home hadn't been so dirty.

 _Severus probably cleaned it up for you_ , her mind whispered.

She smiled sadly as she made her way further into the room. His room was so bare. There was a wardrobe, a mirror, a bed, and bookshelf. The bookshelf had all of his old school books on it, but everything else was void of decoration, even the walls.

She sat down on the edge his bed, feeling her heels come into contact with something solid. She smiled, knowing that she had found what she had come looking for.

" _Reducio,_ " she whispered, pointing her wand under the bed, shrinking the trunk down to pocketsize.

She felt her heart rate begin to slow, the initial adrenalin caused by her trespassing beginning to wear off. She sighed, realizing how much his room still smelled like him, even months later.

She pocketed the trunk, and opened Severus' window. There was ivy along the side of the house, which she used to assist herself on her downward scaling of the house. She hit the grass with a _thud,_ and began running back towards her house.

* * *

" _Damn it_!" Amelia yelled, shoving a stack of papers aside.

She had been trying for weeks to finalize their documents for the Ministry. However, real Ministry documents had a watermark that changed colour under the light, the result of some sort of charm. Her original documents had been in her trunk, which she hadn't had access to since she left Hogwarts. The same goes for Severus, so she had been trying to do this without a reference. She had planned on asking Regulus for his documents, but he had still been sleeping when she came down to the study earlier in the morning. Normally, she wouldn't be this bothered, but these documents were key to learning how to apparate and carrying their NEWT and OWL credentials under a different name.

She sighed, putting her head in her hands.

"What's wrong?" Regulus asked from behind her.

"These bloody papers!" she exclaimed, gesturing violently.

"What about them?" he asked.

"I just can't get them right."

"Sure you can."

"No, I can't," she sighed, "I've been trying for weeks."

"Can I do anything to help?"

"Do you have your original Ministry documents?"

"Yeah, give me a minute," Regulus said, leaving the room.

He returned a few moments later, carrying a single sheet of parchment.

"My lady," he joked, bowing and handing her the paper.

She smiled slightly, taking the sheet from him.

The photos on their forged documents had been transfigured from scraps of cloth to appear as them in their disguises. Amelia had used pieces of cloth from the clothes she had been making for them to make the transfiguration more reliable. An actual camera was something she had yet to purchase.

"You know, you could just try charming the pages to sparkle."

"I've already tried."

"Here, allow me."

He took her form from her hand, drew his wand, and whispered under his breath.

To Amelia's surprise, when the golden specks that flew out of his wand touched the parchment, a small seal of officiality that sparkled purple under the light appeared in the bottom left corner of the document.

"How did you do that?" she gasped.

"A little charm I learned a few years back."

"Well, do it to the others!" she demanded.

And he did.

* * *

It was nearly dawn when Lily found the courage to open Severus' trunk.

Her hands shook as she unlatched it, out of both anticipation and fear of what she would find.

After searching the pockets of his robes, she threw them aside, along with his other articles of clothing. She pulled out his books one by one, each in various stages of disrepair. She sifted through the various pieces of parchment, Severus' notes scrawled across them in black ink. She snickered at his unflattering doodles of Professor Slughorn, he'd been bored in that class since the beginning of second year.

The parchment offered up nothing in regard to her curiosity surrounding his disappearance, so she set them aside. She began looking through his textbooks instead, rolling her eyes at the loopy scrawl that filled the margins of every book.

After trucking through his Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts book, Lily was beginning to fill discouraged. She hadn't found any link to his disappearance, just a few noteworthy corrections and spells.

She opened his potions textbook, the most fragile of the bunch. She handled it carefully, taking in the extra words inked in to the book. He truly had been a genius when it came to potions.

Lily was skimming through his notes on Draught of Living Death when she came to a realization. If Severus had sensed himself to be in danger, why didn't he just take his Felix Felicis potion? He'd been carrying the vial in a pocket on the inside of his robes ever since he'd won it, she'd seen him pull it out a multitude of times to show Regulus Black and Emily Vanity.

Maybe that's what his killer had been after – the Felix Felicis.

She knew she was nearing the end of the timeline for Severus' life in the book, reaching the chapter on Different Methods of Potions Preparation. That had been the last chapter that Severus had been in class for. She gave out a frustrated sigh, and was about to snap the book shut when her eyes wandered to the page on the right-hand side. There, Lily found what she had been searching for.

 _Sectumsempra – For Enemies_

Her mind began racing, and she let out a shaky sigh.

She wasn't sure what to do with this piece of information. According to the _Prophet_ , Dumbledore had been little to no help in the investigation, but she couldn't remember the names of the aurors who were leading it.

She wasn't stupid enough to perform the spell in closed quarters, but it did quirk her interest.

She scrounged through her own trunk for an older edition of the _Daily Prophet_. She found one of the earliest articles about Severus' disappearance. Golbeer and Calhoun. Those were the aurors.

She scrawled a quick note with the information she had discovered in his trunk and her theory on the Felix Felicis, and sent it off with her owl.

Lily shrunk down Severus trunk again, and placed it in her bedside drawer. She sighed, laying back and staring up at the ceiling.

* * *

 _ **Up next: The trio goes to Paris and things start to get a little more interesting.**_

 ** _If you liked this chapter, don't forget to drop by and leave a review._**

 ** _Like this story? Be sure to check out my tumblr dedicated to it: snapes-patronus_**


	8. Chapter 8: Mudblood in Slytherin

_**Greetings fellow readers! Thank you for your patience with this chapter (college life is a hot goddamn mess, lemme tell ya). Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**_

 _ **Be sure to follow my tumblr related to this story: snapes-patronus**_

* * *

 _ **July**_

"Destination, Determination, Deliberation!" an auror barked, her voice booming off the stone walls of the Ministry.

Amelia, Regulus, and Severus had all been able to obtain a spot in the Ministry's July Apparition class. While constantly having to be in their disguises of Evelyn, Stephen, and Charlie was difficult at times, they were becoming better actors. They were also pleased to know they weren't the only ones in the class. Apparently, the Wizarding communities of Africa and Australia did not favor apparition. Therefore, many wizard immigrants to Europe and the United States were forced to learn the art.

The room in which they were taught had no windows, but it's limestone walls were still brightly lit. Regulus was, surprisingly, doing the best out of the three of them, best in the class actually. By the end of the second day, Regulus had already apparated clear across the room. By the end of the third day, Severus and Amelia had barely managed to apparate from one end of the room into the hoop halfway between the two walls.

They returned to the Black Cabin via floo at the end of each day. The fourth day had ended with Amelia and Severus both inconsistently making it to the other side of the room. The licensing exam would take place at the end of the next day.

"How are you so good at it?" Amelia complained, removing the charm on her hair.

Regulus watched as her straight black hair turned back into curly blonde.

"It comes naturally, I guess," he mumbled, "We can practice if you want."

"What do you think of?" she asked.

"Honestly? Trying to get away from my brother. Apparently, I am motivated by unresolved childhood trauma".

Severus snorted from behind him.

"Something funny?" Regulus asked.

"To think that out of all of us, you're the one with unresolved childhood trauma".

Amelia laughed at that, Regulus rolled his eyes.

"Really, I think you two will be fine. You just need to find whatever it is that motivates your body to want to move".

Unsurprisingly, Amelia and Severus both pictured their fathers.

The following day, they each performed well enough to pass their licensing exam. Admittedly, Amelia passed by the skin of her teeth, but after watching the man in front of her splinch himself in three places, she thought her anxiety was completely justified.

* * *

Golbeer and Calhoun had been intrigued by Lily's information, even more so after they tested the spell on a rabbit. They both concluded that it was obvious that Severus believed himself to be in danger.

"I don't blame the kid," Golbeer gruffed, "after almost being murdered by a werewolf, I'd probably try to find a spell like this".

Remus Lupin was able to stay at Hogwarts for his final year, but Golbeer and Calhoun had a hard time convincing Dumbledore that Sirius Black should remain off school grounds. Dumbledore claimed that because the target of Mr. Black's antics was no longer at the school, he didn't believe Mr. Black would pose any issue this coming school year. The aurors could only shake their heads.

* * *

 _ **August**_

Paris was as lovely as they had imagined. Regulus was the one who apparated them there, being the only one who had previously been to the city.

The entrance to Allée Deschamps, the French equivalent of Diagon Alley, was accessible by tapping a wand twice on the second brick of the second row of the base that held the La Piax statue on the Arc de Triomphe.

It reminded Amelia of the first time she had ever been to Diagon Alley. French wizards had very expensive taste in comparison to British, and the things available in various shops reflected that. She looked like an owl by the way she craned her neck to keep looking at a pair of purple dress robes.

It had started to rain, and Regulus took them down an obscure path in between two buildings. Their surroundings started to become quite a bit seedier. Amelia had only been to Knockturn Alley once, and this area gave her the same tingling sensation down her spine.

"Re...Stephen, where are we going?" Amelia asked, almost slipping on his name.

"Not too much further," Regulus responded.

They exited the path between the two buildings, and came across some sort of center square. Severus had insisted on stopping by the apothecary, so Amelia and Regulus had stopped by the bookstore across the way. Regulus had gotten sucked into a book on Shadow Magic on the first floor, so Amelia made her way up the stairs. There was a mixture of languages in the shop, mainly French and English, occasionally German. A lot of the titles would have had her first-year Hufflepuff self shitting her pants, but she began feeling drawn to the Elemental Magic section. There were only a few books, mostly on water and fire. However, there was one book, extremely tattered and without a price tag, that caught her attention. She felt her fingertips tingle as she touched the spine of the book.

" _Manipulating the Energy Within_ ," she murmured.

"Puis-je vous intéresser à quelque chose de spécial, mademoiselle?" someone suddenly asked from behind her.

Amelia nearly jumped out of her skin, "Uh," she looked around desperately, "I don't speak French".

"Oh, not worry," the man said in a thick accent, "I show you one very special. Come."

He began tugging her arm, guiding her towards a black door snug between two bookshelves.

"No, no, I really should get going. My friends…"

She began to reach for her wand when she heard footsteps approach behind them.

Regulus said something to the man in harsh French, resulting in a scoff and the release of Amelia's arm.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

They exited the store, and it was only then that Amelia realized that the old, tattered book was still tucked under her arm. Regulus had already paid for his prior to coming to her rescue.

They met up with Severus near the fountain in the center of the square. Regulus led the way to a rather dodgy looking tavern, though the inside was quite nicer than the outside. He said something to the barman, and was given a small scrap of parchment.

"Room number seven," he said, holding up the paper pinched between his thumb and index finger.

"Stephen," Amelia asked, "how exactly did you find this place?"

"The seemingly endless amount of family connections."

They walked up creaky, wooden stairs, the walls covered with a hideous red and white striped paper. Room 7 was a comfortable size, with a bed for each of them. Amelia claimed the bed by the window, while the boys took one on either side of the room.

And in that one moment, it seemed that everything was perfect. Well, almost.

* * *

Long after the sun had set, and the snores of the two boys filled her ears, Amelia found herself sitting on top of her blankets, staring out the window, watching the flickering lampposts down below. She was unable to comprehend how she had found herself in a vulnerable position once again. She had talked herself up for months about how she would curse the hell out of someone who ever manhandled her again, but when that moment came, she had found herself frozen in fear, unable to react. It irritated her to no end.

She cast a time charm in front of herself, _4:47am_. She huffed, and dragged herself out of bed. Still wearing her clothes from the day before, she stealthily exited the room and began making her way downstairs. There were still a few people in the tavern, but the bartender had changed. It was an older woman now.

Amelia sat down at a small, round table near the stairs.

"Can't sleep, huh?"

She looked up to see a red-headed girl making her way out of the shadows, she sat down in the chair across from Amelia.

"I know what that's like. I'm Jen, by the way."

"Evelyn," Amelia smiled lightly.

"American are ya? What brings you to these parts?"

"Just traveling."

Jen snorted, "I told myself that about three years ago. Saw a lot, Moscow, Beijing, Prague. But Sabine's prices keep me comin' back," she said, pointing over her shoulder at the bartender.

"What do you do?" Amelia asked.

"Well, I've been hunting for the International Confederation of Wizards for about two years now. Vampires recently, real nasty pieces of work, vampires. Before that it was werewolves, which is why I was in Russia."

"So, why are you back here?"

"I've recently been trailing a man from Hungary, possible vampire suspected of killing three people in his village after he ran out of meat about halfway through the winter. He was in Rome for a while, but recent word says he's staying in a hostel not too far from here. He may be conspiring with Death Eaters. The mugwump asked me to keep an eye on him."

"Dumbledore?" Amelia asked.

Jen nodded.

"So...you're a bounty hunter...for Dumbledore?"

"Bounty Hunter?"

"It's a muggle word, it means you catch fugitives for money."

"I guess so. I'm not an auror, that's for damn sure."

"You have something against aurors?" Amelia asked.

"You hear about those kids that went missing from Hogwarts? Or that Muggle family killed in Glasgow? Aurors may act all high and mighty, but in reality, how much have they really done since Voldemort rose to power?"

Amelia went on to learn that Jen actually hated aurors because she had been expelled from Hogwarts for endangering human life with a jinx in her seventh year, but in reality, there had been no evidence. The aurors simply took the word of a pureblood Slytherin over hers. Jen was a half-blood Ravenclaw, with a knack for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures.

Though she was born to magical mother, she was adopted by a muggle couple, as her biological mother had been very young. This resulted in years of blood-purity related bullying from Slytherin girls in her year, specifically Narcissa Black, who had gotten her expelled. Jen left Hogwarts, and too ashamed to return home, scoured most of the Eastern hemisphere for her biological mother, whose existence she'd learned of in her fourth year. She had found her in Australia. Her mother had been deemed a missing person in Wizarding Britain for nearly eighteen years, and it was upon hearing of Jen's locating of her mother that Dumbledore had reached out to her in regards to employment.

They talked until Severus, disguised as Charlie, made his way downstairs around nine. And as fast as she had come, Jen disappeared into the alley shadows.

* * *

 _ **September**_

Over the next several weeks, the trio made progress on their charm longevity. Initially, they had only been able to maintain their disguises for about an eight hour time frame before needing to do some touch ups, but now they were nearing the twenty-four hour mark. Jen had been back to the tavern several times, and offered Amelia lessons in dueling and muggle self-defense, which Jen claimed she had found very useful in the field.

Regulus and Severus began aiding her in dueling as well, and each of them were getting better at taking on multiple opponents (though Severus was far superior, for obvious reasons). When they weren't duelling, both of the boys could usually be found with their nose in a book in some corner of the tavern. Amelia spent a lot of time practicing spells in the weed-filled courtyard.

When the dated passed that marked the beginning of Hogwarts' newest term came and went, Amelia again found herself racked with insomnia. Evangelina had been sorted this year, and it was driving her absolutely mad that she didn't know what House her little sister had been sorted into. So, when Jen was preparing to leave for her next trip to Britain, Amelia asked that she find out, claiming Evangelina to be the sister of an old friend.

Amelia practically pounced on Jen when she returned on a rainy evening ten days later.

"How was your trip?"

"Fine, though it's never fun tracking purebloods. Their house elves aren't as quick to turn on them."

"Who did you end up tracking this time?" Regulus asked.

"The Dolohov's. Dumbledore thinks they're the family most likely to turn their back on You-Know-Who, something about a little shift in power within the Death Eaters. Snuck around their mansion for days, and the most interesting thing I learned was that You-Know-Who gave Bellatrix Lestrange some special cup. Antonin was a bit put out by it, claiming he didn't understand why the Dark Lord ' _would entrust a part of his life to that crazy bitch_ ' after he had been one of You-Know-Who's earliest supporters."

"Did you ever find out about my friend's sister?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, Slytherin. Hatstall too, took the Sorting Hat six and a half minutes to place her."

With that, Jen excused herself to go unpack her belongings. Amelia, unable to ignore the feeling of dread that had overcome her, excused herself as well.

Severus and Regulus returned to their room about twenty minutes later, finding Amelia pacing a hole in the floor.

"This is _so bad_ ," she murmured to herself.

"Mil, it's not that bad," Regulus said, allowing a slip of her name.

"Maybe not for you!" she exploded, "You're a wealthy pureblood, the stereotypical Slytherin! Evangelina is a poor muggleborn, she'll never stand a chance," Amelia moaned, sitting on the edge of her bed, head in her hands.

"She's probably scared shitless," she continued, "I definitely played into the ' _All Slytherins are evil'_ mantra whenever I was home."

Regulus scoffed.

"Well, all the Slytherins I knew burned my homework and spat _mudblood_ at me! I didn't know you two yet! So pardon me!"

* * *

Amelia had been correct. Evangelina Fitzpatrick was indeed scared shitless. She'd noticed the whispers that began after the Sorting Hat had been on her head for about two minutes. The next four were absolutely agonizing.

" _Hmm, difficult._ _ **Very**_ _difficult. Plenty of intelligence I see, not a bad work ethic either, and a thirst to prove yourself. Put where to put you…" the Sorting Hat whispered in her ear._

" _No, not in Gryffindor," the Hat said as her eyes wandered to the gold and scarlet banners on her left._

" _I don't really care where I am," Evangelina whispered meekly, "I just want to be where I belong."_

" _Your sister did quite well in Hufflepuff, but that's not the spot for you, no."_

 _The Sorting Hat spent the next four minutes debating with itself. Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Evangelina could feel her cheeks starting to get red as the whispers of students (and staff) became increasingly anxious._

" _A muggleborn in Slytherin would have Salazar tossing in his grave, no doubt about that. But you desire intelligence for an upper hand, not for knowledge's sake. Rowena would not be happy with that, Salazar would…" it paused, "Better be..._ _ **Slytherin!**_ " _the Hat finally decided._

 _There had been a collective gasp throughout the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall removed the Hat from her head, and she was ushered over to the Slytherin table. She had received rather nasty looks from the older students, but the boy she sat next to, Calvin Warbeck, seemed nice enough._

Now, she was laying in her bed, her dormitory dark and silent. The other four girls had been rather neutral about her, engaging in simple small talk. Another girl, Cassandra Clearwater, seemed rather surprised that she had been sorted into Slytherin as well, as her whole family had been in Ravenclaw.

Evangelina desperately wished she could talk to her sister.

* * *

Lily Evans and Emily Vanity were among the many Hogwarts students who were taken aback by the sorting of Evangelina Fitzpatrick.

Lily had been fairly occupied for most of the evening with Head Girl duties. Remus had been appointed to Head Boy, much to his own dismay (and slight joy). But, the length of Evangelina Fitzpatrick's sorting had caused quite a stir, and she allowed herself to become invested.

" _What's that girl's name?" Lily had asked Remus, finally paying attention._

" _Evangelina…" he paused, "Fitzpatrick"._

 _Lily fell silent, and watched in anxiety as the girl seemed to become increasingly distressed the longer the Hat was on her head._

Upon hearing the fate of the blonde, curly haired girl with big blue eyes, Lily's hand had immediately flown to her mouth. She couldn't believe it. Like others around her, she was astonished by the idea. A _muggleborn_ in _Slytherin_?

Emily Vanity had felt quite the same way. The day had begun quite strangely with Regulus having never arrived, but this sorting made that seem like a grain of salt. A muggleborn in Slytherin? Emily had never heard of such a thing occurring, and apparently, neither had her housemates. The older male students around her had made comments of _mudblood_ and _put her in her place_ under their breath, and the girls simply had a disgusted look on their faces.

But one thing was certain to the both of them, things at Hogwarts would be strange this year, and the war occurring outside the castle's walls was causing it.

* * *

 _ **If you liked this chapter, be sure to drop by and leave a review! Don't forget to follow the tumblr dedicated to this story: snapes-patronus**_


	9. Chapter 9: PTSD

_**Hello everyone. It was a hard one to write, writer's block got the best of me. I know where the story is headed, but writing the build up to those events has been more difficult than I had suspected. Be sure to check out my tumblr dedicated to this story (snapes-patronus) for a more up to date status on the story. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**_

XXXXX

 _October, 1977_

Amelia was panting heavily, hands on her knees, her heart racing.

"C'mon Evelyn, again," Jen demanded.

Amelia rose, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Regulus approached her from the left, but she quickly stunned him. Severus came at her from behind. She dueled with him for about two minutes, before she was finally able to hit him with a good _expelliarmus_.

She turned to face an expectant Jen, who drew her wand.

Jen sent some nonverbal spells her way, all of which Amelia was able to dodge. Amelia threw up a shield and began using Jen's spells against her. Jen easily deflected all of the rebounding spells, and then she hurled a spell that was bright purple at Amelia, shattering her shield. Amelia moved quickly to get out of the way, but her wrist was captured by a magical rope extending itself from the end of Jen's wand.

Amelia used a quick _sectumsempra_ to weasel her way out of that one, but she was progressively losing steam. She kept trying to nonverbally cast _expelliarmus_ , but was not having any success. Jen said that nonverbal spells were one's greatest weapon, because your opponent didn't know what they were up against.

Ultimately, Jen won the duel with a well-timed petrificus totalus.

"You're getting better," Jen said, helping Amelia off the ground.

"I'm still not where I want to be," Amelia griped.

"You'll get there in time," Jen said.

XXXXX

Hogwarts was ablaze with the most recent gossip surrounding the Muggleborn Slytherin. It was all anyone was talking about in the hallway as Lily exited her Charms class. The corridor was in absolute chaos. Lily could feel the confusion on her face.

"Did you hear?" a younger student asked, running up to her.

"Hear what?" she asked.

"Evangelina Fitzpatrick punched Ackley Nott in the face during potions today!" he exclaimed, running off as quickly as he came.

Lily felt yet an additional wave of confusion, mixed with concern.

XXXXX

Sirius had not seemed to take his brother's disappearance very well. He had thought Regulus was as much a Death Eater as any other Slytherin. But after Regulus had said that he'd only expressed desire to be a Death Eater in order to remain in their parents' favor, and Lily had confirmed that Snape apologized, Sirius had found himself conflicted in regards to his brother.

He hadn't wanted to believe his brother, because it would make everything he thought about his family some sort of lie. But with Regulus' disappearance being all over the papers as related to Death Eater activity, and his parents suddenly taking interest in him again, he was questioning everything.

Lily had retired to the Gryffindor common room, working with Remus on Care of Magical Creatures near the fireplace. A group of first years had just returned from the library, and they gained the interest of the entire room.

"Tell us about Fitzpatrick!" someone yelled.

This gained Lily's attention. She knew that Gryffindor first years had potions with the Slytherins.

"She was sitting next to Calvin Warbeck, a half-blood…"

 _"Do you think we should ask Professor Slughorn?" Marshall asked._

 _"No, we don't need his help. Just stir it three times clockwise," Ackley said._

 _Evangelina turned around at this._

 _"Actually," she said, "You want to stir it three times counterclockwise. Clockwise will cause the potion to blow."_

 _"No one asked **you** , you filthy little Mudblood. You think you're so clever, sitting there with a measly little half-blood…"_

"Nott wasn't able to finish his sentence before Fitzpatrick said **BOOM**! right into his teeth!" the first year exclaimed, gesturing with his fist.

"Sounds like you," Remus joked quietly.

Lily laughed slightly, but she knew for a fact that even her Gryffindor nerve wouldn't have reacted in that way during her first year. But the way the first year had told the story, like Ackley Nott was about to insult Evangelina's half-blood friend, had her thinking about Severus.

She never really thought about whether or not he was accepted amongst his housemates due to his blood-status, since he had pureblood friends. But if a first-year was willing to pick a bone with a half-blood, then surely the older students were as well.

XXXXX

Amelia landed with a thud on the wooden floor of Room Seven in the early hours of dawn, causing her to cry out slightly from shock. Another nightmare.

Severus, now half-awake, mumbled if she was okay, to which she answered affirmatively. She was greeted again by snores rumbling off the walls.

She continued laying on the floor, streaks of sunlight gently illuminating the room. Her eyes wandered to the area under her bed. It was dusty, but the reflection of gold lettering caught her eye. She reached under the bed and grabbed the book.

"Right," she whispered, seeing Manipulating the Energy Within spelled out in the gold lettering.

She dusted off the old cover, and decided that she had found what she was going to occupy her early morning. Jen had been gone for a few days, and Severus had been spending his time at the Apothecary whereas Regulus had been cooped up in a few of the local bookstores. Amelia had planned on joining him today, but the rainy October weather had caused her to decide otherwise.

She quietly made her way downstairs to the tavern area, ordering a coffee from Sabine. Amelia gently opened the book, sipping her coffee as she did so. It was obviously quite old, and in all her time spent in the Hogwarts library, Amelia had never stumbled upon this branch of magic.

" _The world is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. Each person on this planet, be they wizard, witch, or Muggle, have magic inside of them. However, it is how that magical energy is utilized that separates us in our abilities. Energy is defined as the capacity of a physical system to perform work. In the Muggle World, energy exists in several forms such as heat energy and light energy. In our world, something causes our magical energy within to be activated, whereas something in the Muggle World causes their internal magical energy to never become activated, even if they try…_ "

"Are you coming with me today?" Regulus asked.

Amelia jumped. She had become so invested in the book that she hadn't noticed that the tavern had come to life around her.

"No, I don't think so," she said.

Regulus' shoulders deflated in disappointment.

"Oh, okay," he said, "whatcha got there?"

"The book I took from the store our first day here," she said, "I found it under my bed this morning."

"I heard you had a nightmare. Are you okay?" he asked.

She hesitated, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

The truth was her nightmares were increasing in frequency. They had stopped for a while, but had been occurring more and more since the encounter with the man in the bookshop two months prior. It has caused her to relive her rape over and over again in her dreams. She always awoke at the same moment of the dream. Waking up always made her feel so inadequate. She had been amongst in the top of her year in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but those little weasels barely scraping by with an A on their OWLs were able to hex her, and get her in a vulnerable position.

That was one of the reasons why she was having Jen train her. It was very untraditional for close combat to be used in duels, but Jen had told them that duels are never fair, so why not bend the rules in your favor?

Amelia felt bad that her nightmares had caused her to act coldly towards Severus and Regulus recently. She cared for them both deeply, and she knew that they were only trying to extend the same care to her, but she found herself to be nervous around all men, even them.

Amelia had retired to bed early that night, only to be awakened by another nightmare when both of the boys were getting ready for bed. She sat straight up in her bed, noticing blonde roots at the top of her dark head. Her disguise charm had lasted four and a half days this time around. She recast it, pointing her wand to her scalp.

The boys watched silently as she brushed by them, exiting the room. She knew what she needed to do.

XXXXX

"Another," Amelia slurred out to Sabine.

She hadn't been drunk in a very long time, probably not since the end of her fifth year to celebrate the end of OWLs. Jen had consumed a few drinks with her as soon as she had come downstairs, the redhead having returned from her few days of tracking a vampire in Yugoslavia, but she had since retired to her own room.

"I think that's enough for you tonight Miss Evelyn," Sabine said, placing a final shot of firewhisky in front of the girl.

Amelia threw back the shot, enjoying the burning sensation.

"Fine," she grumbled.

Amelia accio-ed her satchel, and placed a galleon and a few sickles on the bar. She stumbled up the stairs, turning the knob to Room 7 loudly. She smacked her left knee on the corner of the dresser as soon as she stepped foot inside the room.

"Bloody hell!" she groaned out, landing with a thump on the floor.

By this point, Severus had awoken and magically returned light to their lamps.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, still slightly groggy.

"Don't...don't worry about it. 'M fiiiine" she slurred out.

"You're drunk," he concluded.

She giggled, rolling slightly on the floor.

"What in Godric's name were you thinking? Getting yourself into this state?"

"Mmm I just wanna sleep," she whined.

"Choke on your vomit in your sleep more like," he gruffed, helping her off the floor.

She sloppily clung to him, her eyes watering.

"That's mean," she slurred, "I just...got drunk so I that could...sleep."

"Drinking is not going to solve your problems," he said harshly.

Amelia burst into tears at this point, "I just want to be able to sleep," she sobbed.

Severus' eyes widened as he realized what she was implying. Her nightmares, he remembered.

"Well, you're going to sleep quite good tonight," he said, "but you're not going to enjoy it in the morning. Nor are you going to continue to drink yourself to sleep."

He placed her on her bed gently, resulting in her grasping his biceps firmly, having him lean over her.

"Se...Severus," she slurred, "you're not a bad person, I know you feel like one because of what you said to Lily, but you're really not. Your old friends and the...the Marauders are," she babbled, "they're bad people."

"My name is Charlie now, remember?" he grunted, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Well whoever you are, I know...I know you aren't bad," she said, letting go of his arms, rolling over to have her back face him.

He leaned back with a sigh, conjuring a trash can beside her bed. Amelia already seemed to have fallen asleep.

Severus returned to his own bed, and was about to turn the lights out when Regulus' voice finally made itself known.

"She's really going through some shit tonight, huh?" he said.

"It would appear so," Severus replied. In the year that they had known Amelia, she had never opened up much about her past or how she was feeling.

"Do you think we should try to talk to her?" Regulus asked.

Severus hesitated, "Perhaps," he said, extinguishing the lights.

XXXXX

With the anniversary of finding Amelia's body quickly approaching, Lily had found that her nightmares were increasing in frequency as well. She often spent longer on her rounds than she needed, anything to avoid going to sleep.

One evening, she made her way into the library around two in the morning. As she made her way deeper into the shelves, she saw the faint glow of a light. Prepared to take away points, she strutted towards the light, only to stumble upon Evangelina Fitzpatrick sniffling to herself.

"Evangelina?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," the girl sniffed, "I'll leave."

She began to gather her things, but Lily stopped her.

"You don't have to do that," she said, "...do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Evangelina said, "It's nothing."

Lily's eyes landed on the Muggle photograph of Evangelina and Amelia on the table. It looked fairly recent, probably the last time Evangelina had seen her sister.

"I just miss her a lot," the first year cried softly, "I know you found her, I read the paper."

Lily stiffened, but took a seat across from the girl.

"Yeah, I did," she admitted, "I didn't know your sister very well, but the people who did know her say that she was a great person."

"She was the greatest person I knew. She was always trying to teach me things about magic, and protect me from Dad."

Lily looked at the girl quizzically.

"Our father is an Archdeacon," she explained, "He never really understood why we had magic. He used to spout all sorts of things about Amelia and I going to Hell. He used to punish Amelia for doing accidental magic, thinking he could 'scare the devil out of her' but her first summer back from Hogwarts she threatened him and he never touched her again, and he never tried to punish me."

Lily nodded, though she felt her anger flare up slightly at the girl's words. How could a parent treat their child like that? Severus' dad had been like that, her mind whispered.

"Being her sister is hard sometimes, some of the older students act weird towards me."

"Like who?" Lily asked.

"Mulciber. He never engages when all of the older Slytherins decide to tease me or call me a mudblood, he just stares at me."

Odd, Lily thought.

"Stay away from Mulciber," Lily said, "There's not a good bone in his body."

"I know," Evangelina yawned, "I think I'm going to go to bed now."

Lily watched as the first year gathered her things and brushed by her, a new sense of protectiveness washing over her, "Let me walk you back to the dungeons," she said.

XXXXX

Amelia awoke the following afternoon with a pounding headache. She looked around, gathering her surroundings. There were two vials on her bedside table.

Drink the red one now, and the blue one before you go to sleep, read the piece of parchment whose corner was tucked gently under the red vial. She recognized Severus' rushed scrawl immediately.

She did as instructed, and minutes upon taking the potion she was beginning to feel less hungover. She changed her clothes, made her way downstairs, and ordered a sandwich from the barman.

Upon finishing her sandwich, Amelia finally had the realization of how stir crazy she was, having stayed in the tavern for days. She grabbed her coat and decided to head out into the city. She felt the desperate urge to go dancing, so she apparated to the Louvre, figuring she could probably find somewhere close by. Eventually she stumbled upon a pub that was playing live music. The band on stage was playing some sort of folk rock song whose French words she could not understand, but the rhythm of the songs made it easy to dance to them.

She eventually sat down to take a break, but she was hardly able to sit alone for two minutes before a gentleman approached her.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked, a slight Nigerian accent on his tongue.

Amelia, so relieved to hear someone speak English, couldn't stop herself from saying yes. Initially feeling anxious and regretful over agreeing to the beverage, she soon found herself slipping comfortably into conversation with him.

The man's name was Azi, and he had arrived in Paris some two weeks ago to find work so he could send money home to his family. Amelia could sense his magic, but decided not to comment on it. Maybe they both needed to visit a Muggle establishment in order to temporarily forget their Wizarding reality.

They talked for about three hours, before Azi announced he should get going. Amelia agreed, though they decided to meet for breakfast the following Tuesday at the bakery two doors down.

XXXXX

Upon apparating back to the tavern in Allee Deschamps, Amelia could hear the commotion happening inside. As she entered, she discovered that a drunken oaf had decided to pick a fight with Jen. Jen was easily able to take down the drunk and his friends who joined in after he had fallen, and that both amazed and amused Amelia. Her goal was to become more like Jen. Fearless, cunning, and quick on her feet.

Amelia said a quick greeting to Jen and Sabine, and made her way up the stairs.

"Where have you been?" Regulus demanded as soon as she walked in the door.

"I went out," Amelia shrugged.

" _Out_?"

"I just wanted to get out of here for awhile. It was fun, I went dancing at a pub. I even let someone buy me a drink."

Regulus' eyes flashed, "Never do that again. You reek of smoke. We were worried about you all day."

"Don't tell me what to do," she snapped, "I can do what I want."

Regulus' nostrils flared in frustration.

"Well you seemed to be having a pretty rough night last night, and when Charlie and I came back from town earlier, the barman said you had left without saying where you were going. We were worried about you. Now we learn you went out to some Muggle pub and let some stranger chat you up for a couple of hours? It's not safe."

Amelia sighed, she knew that Regulus was only trying to look out for her. She crossed the room to stand in front of him.

"I'm sorry," she said, lightly touching his crossed arms, "I didn't mean to worry you."

He took her into his arms, hugging her tightly. Amelia stiffened initially at the contact, but began to relax. He smelled like eucalyptus and vanilla.

"He and I care a lot about you," he said, "We don't want something else bad to happen."

"Thank you for caring about me," she said, looking up at him.

His eyes bore into hers for a moment, but she broke eye contact first, hearing the knob on the door turning.

"Stephen, I think that...oh, am I interrupting something?" Severus asked, noticing Regulus' hands lightly gripping Amelia's arms.

The other two answered negatively. They separated, and headed for their respective beds.

Regulus tossed and turned all night, unable to shake the feeling that had caused him to hug Amelia. He'd known for awhile that he fancied her, but that was the first time he had ever been so straight forward about displaying it. _She smelled like lavender,_ he thought dreamily to himself. And then she had looked at him, and he hadn't expected what had come next. That feeling. He'd felt it a little with Emily Vanity, but it was nowhere near as strong as it had been when Amelia's eyes had stared into his. He and Emily may have hooked up a few times during his fifth year, but he'd always known it would never evolve into something steady, Emily had still been infatuated with Severus.

Regulus felt his member twitch with excitement thinking about Amelia and sex, and he let a small groan escape his lips. He rolled over with a huff, unwilling to let his feelings for Amelia make their situation awkward. He doubted she felt the same anyways.

Amelia had dated Amos Diggory off and on for three years, until her 'death'. They were 'off' the day that her assault happened, hence why she was walking alone in Hogsmeade. Before her assault happened, she was young and naive enough to believe that she was going to marry Amos one day. After what had happened to her, she was hesitant to trust any man, even the two she had grown close to over the last year.

 _She needs help before she can love again,_ Regulus concluded.

* * *

 _ **I hope you enjoyed. As this chapter was very Amelia-oriented, the next will be focused heavily on the boys. Once again, be sure to check out my tumblr dedicated to this story (snapes-patronus), and have a great day!**_


	10. Chapter 10: Invasion of Privacy

_**Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this update. Reminder to follow my blog dedicated to this story, snapes-patronus on Tumblr!**_

* * *

 _ **January, 1977**_

Regulus' concern for Amelia had been growing at an exponential rate over the last several months. Whenever Jen wasn't around or she wasn't occupying her time with some theory from _Manipulating the Energy Within_ in the courtyard, she would sneak away for hours at a time. Regulus had followed her a few times. Sometimes she went to a pub that played live music, other times she went to a rather shady disco. He had followed her there for the first time on New Years Eve, where he watched her kiss some stranger. It had made his stomach churn. She had caught him lurking in the shadows of the disco a few nights later, and while she was clearly on _something_ , that hadn't stopped her from yelling at him.

" _Why are you here?" she demanded._

" _Making sure you're safe."_

" _I'm having fun! Something you clearly don't understand."_

" _Doing drugs and drinking so that you'll forget about your problems isn't fun. It's dangerous. You're going to end up killing yourself."_

 _She wiped her nose on her sleeve, "Fuck you!"_

" _You don't mean that, come on. I'm taking you home."_

 _She had kicked and shrieked from the time they left the club until they were back in Room Seven. She had thrown herself onto her bed with a huff, but about ten minutes later she'd burst into tears. The effects of whatever drug had clearly worn off._

 _He kneeled beside her bed, putting his hand on her arm. Her back was to him._

" _Amelia. I need you to listen to me. What you're doing...it scares me. I could never forgive myself if something bad happened to you."_

" _You and Severus told me to find something that helps me._ _ **This**_ _is what I have found_ _ **helps**_ _me," she said in a small voice._

Since then, he had been spending every spare moment researching Occlumency. He thought that since Amelia was already gifted in one mind art, surely she could pick up another. He had been refreshing his previous Occlumency skills with Severus a bit, so that when the time game, he would be able to both penetrate Amelia's mind, and avoid being penetrated by hers.

He cared for her so much. The burning pain he felt in his chest each time he heard her scream herself awake, only to cry herself back to sleep, killed him inside. He just wanted to be able to help.

That evening, Regulus had pulled Jen aside in the tavern, telling her his plan to use Legilimency on Amelia during their next training session to see if she could properly Occlude. Jen thought it was a brilliant idea, and thought that they should start the next morning.

 **XXXXX**

While Regulus had spent his time holed up in bookshops and libraries, Severus spent all of his time at the Apothecary. The Apothecary in Allee Deschamps was owned by the finest Potions Mistress of the age, Myriam Bachelot. Despite slowly overcome the language barrier, he had learned loads more from her in under a year than he did five with Slughorn, not that that was a hard feat to accomplish.

He, like Regulus, had grown concerned about Amelia's current state. She was fine whenever Jen, Azi, or he and Regulus were around, but the moment she was alone she would always dive off the deep end, like she couldn't stand to be alone with her own thoughts.

Severus understood that on a whole different level. No matter how hard he tried, how empty he made his mind, it always came back to Lily. He missed her desperately. He had seen so much of her personality in Amelia, which is why he thought they got on so well, but now that Amelia had become a shell of the person she was when he first encountered her, he found himself missing Lily more and more.

He wondered how she was. If Potter had won her over. What Hogwarts was like with the war looming. He knew he shouldn't be bothered with such things. He was living a new life, with a different name and a different face. With a sigh, he added some newt eyes into his cauldron. Perhaps he needed more Occlumency revising with Regulus than he thought.

 **XXXXX**

Lily had thought she had been a wreck before Christmas Holidays, but she couldn't have been farther from the truth.

On New Years Day, she had read in the local paper that Tobias Snape had died. How he died wasn't mentioned, but she suspected some sort of bar fight. The thought of the man knotted her stomach. She had only had two encounters with him, but she had seen first hand what he had done to him son. As a child, she was too naive to pick up what was happening at Severus' house. She had believed his lies about falling down the stairs or running into a doorknob. It was until she saw the horrendous amount of bruises and scars on his back one summer when his shirt rode up that she finally put it together.

She had cried to her mother for days about it, unable to comprehend how someone could possibly treat Severus that way. She still didn't understand it, which is why she felt no sympathy for the dead man.

The day she was set to return to Hogwarts, the copy of the Daily Prophet had Amelia, Severus, Regulus, and two other wizards who had disappeared or died in mysterious circumstances on the front cover. The headline was ' _ **What Happened to Them?'**_. It had been strange to see a photo of Amelia, alive and smiling. Lily had felt a pang of sadness looking at the girl. For over a year she had regarded her as The Dead Girl, but upon reading the excerpt about Amelia in the paper, she had the sad realization that they probably could have been very good friends.

Severus' had been harder for her to take. He wasn't exactly smiling in the photo, but he had that small smirk of his on his face. Lily wasn't sure how the editor had gotten the photo, but it ripped her heart to shreds.

 _Severus Snape was last seen in the library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Evidence of foul play was discovered in the Forbidden Forest near the school's grounds, but his body has never been recovered. Mr. Snape was an exceptionally gifted student, especially within the realms of potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. While his mother was a member of the pureblood Prince family, his father was a Muggle, which is what authorities believed was the main contributor to his disappearance._

The excerpt of Severus made her sad. While she may not have spoken to him for the last six months of him being at Hogwarts, she didn't feel like it captured the essence of who he was as a person. Lily had been up late an uncountable number of nights questioning everything in regards to Severus. Emily Vanity's outburst in the library during sixth year had sparked it, but the confirmation of Remus being a werewolf and Ackley Nott verbally attacking Calvin Warbeck for being a half-blood had caused her to go absolutely mental late at night.

Lily had seen Sirius Black reading the paper on the train, having a nauseous look on his face. She imagined he was probably having the similar train of thought that she was, but in regards to his brother. She tried to talk to Sirius about the article in the paper, but he wanted to hear none of it. She imagined that he probably felt some degree of guilt, which she had never seen him or James possess during all their time at Hogwarts.

Had Severus really been as invested in the future Death Eaters as everyone had made him seem? Did he really mean to call her a mudblood? Had he been peer pressured by Slytherin to dive into the ideals of You-Know-Who? What had ever happened to that girl that he took to the Yule Ball?

Most prominent was Lily's feelings of guilt, especially in regards to the situation with Remus in the Shrieking Shack. She had told Severus that his friends used Dark Magic, which was true, but when he argued that what the Marauders did was just as bad, she had tried to downplay the severity of what was really going on. Had she known that Sirius Black tried to sic a werewolf on Severus, well...she isn't sure what she would have done.

As much as everything inside of her was screaming that Severus was dead, a small voice inside of her told her not to lose hope. After all, they had never found his body.

Lily's mind came back to the same question. What had ever happened to Evelyn Grey after the Yule Ball? Surely she must have went back to America, but she would nearly be finished with school. Overwhelmed with curiosity, and the desire to talk to someone who probably knew Severus as well as she did, Lily penned a letter and addressed it to Evelyn and gave it to her owl.

Maybe her curiosity could be satisfied.

 **XXXXX**

Severus and Regulus watched as Jen was dueling Amelia, waiting for their opportunity to intervene with Legilimency.

Amelia had gotten much better at defending herself. They both knew she had been towards the top of her year in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she had finally gained the confidence that allowed her to flourish in duels outside of a classroom setting.

When she had successfully disarmed Jen, Amelia turned to face the two of them, confident in her ability to take on both of them at the same time.

And she did, she had them both in vulnerable positions within a few spells. However, as she turned her attention to Regulus, Severus made his move.

"Legilimens!" he yelled, pointing his wand at her.

Her eyes widened when they made contact with his, and suddenly he found himself in the depths of her mind. She wasn't able to put a wall up to stop him.

 _Severus found himself inside of a farmhouse kitchen. There were various religious icons and family photos around the room, though the presence of Amelia was severely lacking in said photos. A thin, blonde-haired man was reading the newspaper at the table, a brunette woman was making breakfast. There was the sound of children playing in the room above them._

 _There were a few clunks on the stairs as Amelia heaved her trunk down them. She entered the kitchen, trunk in tow._

 _The man looked up._

" _Back to that Hellish place already?" he asked._

" _Yes, Daddy," she said quietly._

" _Sit down, Amelia," he said._

 _She did. Severus noticed the unease on her face._

" _I'm worried about you," he said, flashing his eyes to her, "It's a sin."_

" _And you're supposed to love me, no matter what. That's what a parent does," she said, her voice shaking slightly._

" _So you admit that what you do is a sin then?"_

 _Amelia sighed, "Daddy, I know that the validation of what I am was hard for you to accept, but it's been five years. You should have adjusted by now."_

" _I'm scared for you, what you do...it's an abomination. It's an eternity in Hell," her father said, folding up his newspaper._

" _Now Eugene, let's not go using words like Hell," the woman said._

 _Severus noticed the pain in Amelia's face, her hands toying at the fabric of her skirt._

" _So that's why you sat me down this morning, to tell me I'm going to Hell?" she asked, her voice becoming stronger, "It's not like I've known_ _ **that**_ _for the last ten years of my life!"_

 _There was a pause._

" _I just don't know where I went wrong with you!" he exclaimed suddenly, "Or Evangelina for that matter!"_

" _Where you went wrong?!" Amelia shrieked._

 _Severus suddenly noticed a lack of noise above them, and poked his head around the corner to see a few children crouching on the stairs, clearly eavesdropping. Another teenaged girl had just come in the front door, the children gesturing for her to stay quiet._

" _We raised you in a wholesome, Catholic family and still you…" he let out a frustrated sigh, "Isaiah. The Lord has rejected you because you welcome foreigners who practice magic," her father recited._

" _Oh don't do that Daddy. Don't quote the Bible at me!" Amelia complained._

" _Chronicles. He practiced divination and witchcraft. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger."_

 _Amelia straightened herself suddenly, "Jesus. A new commandment that I give unto you, that you love one another."_

" _Leviticus. A man or a woman who engages in witchcraft shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them."_

" _Jesus. He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone."_

" _Exodus. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."_

" _Jesus. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Jesus. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is my savior, Daddy. Not you!" Amelia yelled, pointing between a portrait of the man on the wall and the man across from her._

 _She stood suddenly, throwing her chair back, "And Jesus...Jesus would be ashamed of you for judging me. He would be ashamed of you for turning your back in me! He would be ashamed!" she sobbed, her voice finally breaking._

 _With that, Amelia grabbed her trunk, stormed out of room, past her siblings, and out the front door, which shut with a slam._

Suddenly, Severus was thrown out of her mind. Amelia looked at him, a look of utmost malice on her face. Regulus and Jen stood nearby, wondering what he could have possibly seen. Amelia stormed by all three of them.

"I'm leaving," she muttered.

Regulus and Severus hurried after her, Jen just stood there and shook her head. She should have known that this wasn't a good idea.

The boys entered Room Seven to see Amelia aggressively stuffing her minimal belongings into a small trunk, muttering under her breath about how she couldn't trust anyone.

"Amelia…" Regulus started.

" _Don't,_ " she said through gritted teeth, "This arrangement is done. I'm leaving."

"I'm sorry, Amelia," Severus said.

"Sorry for what? Were tired of dealing with my drunken and depressive antics so you decided to find a way to get rid of me? Well congradufuckinglations. Your wish is my command."

"We were only trying to help," Regulus said.

"Help how? Oh, yeah let's dive into the mind of the girl with horrendous PTSD, depression, and Daddy Issues! That'll go well! Brilliant idea you two," she muttered sarcastically.

Regulus could feel himself growing anxious. She really was determined to leave them. His heart was panicking in his chest.

Suddenly, an owl tapped on their window. The all looked at it in surprise, in all their time here not one of them had received an owl. Regulus retried the letter in its beak and sent it on its way.

"It's for you," he said, giving it to Amelia.

"Odd," she said, opening the letter.

She let the envelope fall to the floor. Severus scooped it up, and his heart stopped. He knew that loopy handwriting, that signature purple ink.

"Well, who is it from?" Regulus asked.

"Lily," Severus and Amelia said in unison.

 _ **Dear Evelyn,**_

 _ **I'm not quite sure how to begin this letter, but I figured I should, as I feel you're the only person who knew Severus as I did. Things are starting to get worse here, more people are disappearing. The Ministry still hasn't found a whole lot in regards to Severus, and I fear that they never will. Sometimes I wonder if he somehow survived the attack. Emily Vanity certainly seems to think it's possible, but she's also been a complete mess since Regulus has been missing, so some of what she says is complete nonsense. I've been thinking about leaving Britain, but I feel as if that would be an insult to Severus' memory.**_

 _ **I don't know why I'm telling you about this, for all I know you could have moved on from Severus already, but I feel like no one at Hogwarts understands me, so I hope you'll get back to me.**_

 _ **Best,**_

 _ **Lily Evans**_

Severus tried to retrieve the letter from her grasp, but she set fire to it instead.

"Why would do that?!" he exclaimed.

"It's what you get after the little stunt you pulled today," she mused, fluttering over to sit on her bed.

Severus sulked out of the room.

"Amelia, that was mean," Regulus said.

Amelia inhaled on her newly lit cigarette, and blew smoke in his direction.

"The two of you invading my mind was, what you like to call, mean."

"We were only trying to help," he mumbled, "Are you going to write her back?"

"Perhaps."

"Are you still leaving?"

"Yes, I think so. Azi asked me to come visit his family in Africa."

"We'll come with you."

Amelia blew smoke out of her nose and sighed.

"Fine. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon."

Regulus hesitated, "What...what did he see? In your mind?"

"The last time I ever saw my parents," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry," he said, putting his hand on her arm, "I just wanted to help."

"I don't doubt that Occlumency would work, but that was just not the way you two should have gone about it."

* * *

 _ **Haha, did anyone recognize the Grey's Anatomy influence? ;-)**_

 _ **I love reviews!**_


	11. Chapter 11: A Horcrux

_**Hello everyone! Updating should be on a relatively regular schedule again now that I'm not enrolled in 18 credit hours. No more waiting for a month!**_ _ **I hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

* * *

 _ **February, 1977**_

They had arrived in Nigeria two days before January had ended. Azi had apparated them to the wizarding village of Ejugu. Something the trio quickly learned is that African wizards practiced strictly wandless magic, a cultural difference they were shocked they didn't learn at Hogwarts. As such, they had dedicated their stay to perfecting their skills in wandless magic, Azi's mother, Adia, conducting a lot of their training.

Azi had taken a particular liking to Severus, and was fascinated by the knack he had for creating spells. Azi's younger sister, Aretta, had immediately fallen in love with Amelia and her grasp on the subject of astronomy. Regulus had become interested in the local wildlife, and as such, took a liking to Azi's father, Alavi, who worked in the magical creatures trade.

The village was nestled atop a tall mountain in the middle of the country, surrounded by hardwood forests, far away from prying Muggle eyes. Azi had told them that his village was the most populated wizarding village in Africa, and its size was nearly three times that of Hogsmeade. The next nearest wizarding villages were outside of Cairo, Egypt and Kampala, Uganda.

"Uagadou is well known for their student animagi," Aretta had boasted when Severus asked them about their school, and Azi confirmed this by turning into a cheetah at the dinner table.

Dinner was always an elaborate festivity. It was the only time all of them came together, and they often had elaborate conversations that lasted for several hours.

While the conversations were normally positive, tonight they took a darker turn, due to an article in the _Daily Prophet_. Amelia still had her subscription, which was dropped off by a grey parrot. The article in that morning's edition had come to a disturbing conclusion: The Dark Lord was immortal.

 _ **An Invincible Dark Lord?**_

 _ **There has been rampant speculation that the Dark Lord has become immortal, due to several Aurors hurling the Killing Curse during a raid earlier this week, but the Unforgivable having no effect. The Minister is quite bewildered by this possibility, and has assured the Prophet that he and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be doing everything in their power to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.**_

"In all the Dark Arts books I've read, I've never come across any type of magic like this," Severus commented, folding up the paper.

Azi and his father gruffed in agreement. Severus had been far more open in regards to discussing his knowledge of the Dark Arts since arriving in Africa. Much like Durmstrang, the Uagadou School of Magic was known for having a more relaxed view of the Dark Arts. As a result, Azi's family was very open when discussing the subject, and didn't pose any sort of judgement when the British wizards had questions.

"I find it interesting that Hogwarts has steered away from the Dark Arts in the last century," Alavi said, "It's as if they're afraid that exposing students to them will create another Dark Wizard. You'd think they would have learned from Voldemort that hiding them away, and not educating students on what they are capable of doing, is what makes the Dark Arts truly dangerous."

"Exactly!" Severus exclaimed, "I just find the Dark Arts fascinating, I'd never use any of the stuff I've learned or created unless it was absolutely necessary."

"And with the war brewing, it's important to know what you're up against!" Alavi declared, "Death Eaters won't hesitate to use Dark Magic, so why should you? You should know how to defend yourself against it, yes, but a spell that can melt a wizard's skin off is far more defensive in a life threatening situation than say, a disarming spell."

"People at Hogwarts make everything so black and white," Severus complained, "You either do 'light magic' and therefore you're a good wizard, or you do 'dark magic' and you're an evil one."

"Which makes it even more ironic, considering Dumbledore's close relationship with Grindelwald back in the day," Azi commented.

The trio gaped at him.

"You didn't know? Dumbledore and Grindelwald were best friends when they were younger. They wanted to find the Deathly Hallows, and lead a wizarding revolution, a world where wizards wouldn't have to live in hiding anymore. Sound familiar?"

 **XXXXX**

The dynamic inside Hogwarts School was changing just as rapidly as the world outside was. The tension between the older years of Slytherin House and the older years of Gryffindor was reaching dangerous levels. Sirius Black had found himself in the hospital wing last week due to being caught up in an empty corridor with Avery and Mulciber. James had sought out revenge, but ended up hexing Evan Rosier when he couldn't find the two Slytherins he was looking for.

Remus had detached himself quite a bit from the Marauders over the last year. After confronting James and Sirius about what had happened with Severus their fifth year, he didn't feel like he could trust them anymore. Lily had become his main companion since then, but for the most part, he spent his time by himself. James and Sirius reached out occasionally, but it never amounted to much. Remus knew that he needed to remain on good terms with James and Sirius, as they were all planning to enroll in auror training the coming September. He hadn't seen much of Peter in recent months, but he didn't really care anymore.

Lily was in a similar debacle as Remus. Her seventh year had been quite lonely so far. With the exception of Remus, most of her friends in Gryffindor had distanced themselves significantly from her as a result of her increasing obsession with what happened to Severus, Amelia, and to an extent, Regulus.

As a result, Lily spent most of her time occupied with revising for NEWTs or seeing to her Head Girl duties with Remus. After the mini breakdown sparked by the _Daily Prophet_ article had caused her to write to Evelyn Grey, to which she received no response, Lily had approached Emily Vanity. She couldn't believe that she hadn't thought to talk to Emily before. After all, she knew Severus and Regulus better than anyone, even Evelyn, after her and Severus had ceased communication their fifth year. It had gone better than she had hoped, but Emily was still so emotionally damaged from losing her two friends that she didn't want to talk about it much.

 _Lily approached the blonde Slytherin in the library. Emily had been helping her in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and in return Lily was helping her in Charms._

" _Hi Emily," Lily smiled._

" _Hi Lily."_

" _How are you?"_

" _Fine. And you?"_

" _If one more person asks me what my plans are after school, I may explode," Lily complained. She had just come from another meeting with McGonagall._

" _I'm going to become an Auror. Or an Unspeakable if that doesn't work out," Emily said, "What about you?" she smirked._

 _Lily rolled her eyes, "I don't know. I don't know what it is that I want to do and that's the problem."_

" _You'd make a fine Healer," Emily suggested, "Or a Metal-Charmer."_

" _I've been thinking about becoming a Healer," Lily said, "I've also been going back and forth with the possibility of being an Auror, but I don't think I could stand to see any more of my friends hurt...or dead," she finished in a small voice._

" _I want to become an Auror because I want to find the people who took my friends, and make them pay," Emily spat._

" _I've also considered just leaving Britain all together. Go somewhere far away. But I feel like that would be an insult to his memory."_

" _It would," Emily agreed quickly, turning her attention back to her book._

" _Do you ever think about them?" Lily asked._

" _Yes," Emily gritted._

" _I do too. All three of them. Every day."_

" _I didn't know Amelia, but listening to Evangelina talk about her makes it more real. Amelia was an actual person, who is actually dead. I know that no one knows what really happened to Regulus or Severus but you can't help but…"_

" _Assume the worst," Lily sighed._

" _Exactly," Emily sighed._

That was pretty much the furthest their conversations had ever gotten outside of school work. Lily didn't blame Emily, but it also drove her a bit mad. She just wanted someone to talk to about it. Someone who understood. Remus was always a doll and allowed her to go on what turned into a babbling rant about it, and offer what advice he could in return, but even he knew that he was not the most qualified person for Lily to talk to.

"I don't know what I want to do with my life, Remus," she said as the two of them rounded a corner, once again on their rounds.

"Do what you think would make you happy," Remus offered.

"I think that I would be better at being a Healer, but I think that being an auror would be more satisfying."

"Then sign up for Auror training," he said, "The Order is made up almost completely of Aurors, with a few exceptions."

 _Ah, there it is,_ Lily thought, _more talk of the Order._

"I don't know if I want to join the Order," Lily said.

"Why not? By becoming an Auror you're already informally signing up to fight You-Know-Who. You might as well join the organization that's doing it formally."

Lily thought about it for a moment. From the little she did know about the Order, it guaranteed that she would have some sense of community. While she'd have to live with the majority of her housemates who didn't really talk to her anymore, at least she wouldn't have to live alone.

"I'll think about it," she said, and Remus smiled.

 **XXXXX**

About midway through February, Alavi had pulled Regulus aside after breakfast and told him he had a surprise for him. They apparated to the top of a rather arid mountain, with very few trees but a lot of brush.

"Where are we?" Regulus asked.

"North. Near the border of Nigeria and Niger," Alavi answered, "I was informed of this early in the morning, so I hope she's still here," he said.

Regulus followed the man curiously, until they came across a large lump in the middle of a clearing of brush.

"A Nundu?" Regulus asked, becoming increasingly intrigued.

"Indeed. This one is a male, dead now though. Quite a bit west of their normal habitat, so it took the wizard who found them quite by surprise. He apparently had a young female cub with him when he found him, so that's what we're looking for."

"Why didn't he retrieve her himself? Nundus are relatively harmless when they're younger."

"That's exactly what I tried to tell him, but he didn't listen, so here we are," Alavi said, gesturing to the terrain around them.

Regulus sighed as they split up, it was going to be a hard search.

They were beginning to lose daylight when Regulus had finally found some small footprints leading out from the brush. They looked relatively fresh, so he followed them.

They weaved in and out of the brush for about a quarter down the mountain, and stopped abruptly in front of a singular, prickly bush. Regulus sat down, pulled an orange from his sack, and began peeling it. He had learned in his OWL Care of Magical Creatures class that Nundus were highly attracted to the scent of citrus, which is why many wizards on the East side of the continent forbade the presence of citrus fruits in their homes.

It didn't take long until the bush startled rustling. Soon, a spotted head and two golden eyes were peeking out at him.

"That's it, come on," he said, throwing an orange slice towards the bush.

Upon throwing the orange slice, he noticed the three freckles on the back of his hand had begun to show through. He recast his disguise charm.

The creature stepped out, sniffing the orange. It was a tad bit bigger than a kitten, but not as large as a housecat. She ate the orange slice and looked up at him expectantly for more. Her body was covered in small burs from the bush.

Regulus dropped an orange slice in front of his feet, and she moved towards it. He raised his wand.

" _Asperugo Tollendum_ ," he cast, watching the burs unhook themselves from her fur and turn to dust as they hit the ground.

The cat nudged his hand, purring softly. She had yet to develop the spiky mane around her neck, so he ran his hand up and down her spine.

"Alright, let's get you out of here, yeah?"

Regulus put the creature into a football hold in one arm, with his bag slung over the opposite shoulder. After casting some white sparks to indicate to Alavi that he had found her, he fumbled to place his wand back in his robes. He then placed the remaining orange slices in his wand hand, and began walking towards Alavi's answering sparks.

The two reunited just after the sun had set.

"Looks like she's yours now," Alavi said, gesturing to the orange-eating cat in Regulus' arms, "You're lucky. Only a handful of wizards can say they've tamed a Nundu."

"Are you sure I'm qualified to own this?" Regulus asked.

"It is not unheard of for Nundu cubs to latch onto a Wizard after they have been orphaned. From my understanding, that's how Newt Scamander obtained his. Obviously we'll need to get some paperwork filed with the Ministry and the International Confederation, but the obvious is certain. She picked you, so you're her protector now."

Regulus smiled at the feline, whose paw was batting at a string hanging off of his robes.

They apparated back to the cabin in Ejugu just in time for dinner. The newest member of the household followed Regulus around all night, rubbing against his legs.

"Stephen, what are you going to name your Nundu?" Aretta asked, taking his empty plate from in front of him.

Thought for a moment, "Zosma," he answered.

"Ah, the Leo Constellation."

Regulus nodded.

Amelia smirked across the table at him. She decided to comment on the name when the three of them returned to their room.

"You know, I'm not sure Severus and I can handle two stars of Leo in the same room," she joked.

"Ah, shut it. It suits her, don't you think?" he asked, gesturing to the cat pawing at his blanket.

Amelia nodded, "How long will you be able to keep her?"

"I'm not sure. She won't develop her spikes and her breath for a few more years. I was thinking about writing to Newt Scamander about it," he shrugged.

Soon after, Severus extinguished the lights.

 **XXXXX**

The following day was a rather uneventful one. Amelia spent her time desperately trying to conjure lightning wandlessly, but she was having immense difficulty. _Manipulating the Energy Within_ wasn't much help to her in that regard.

Regulus spent the day with Zosma, helping her get accustomed to her new surroundings. Alavi had helped him fill out the proper paperwork to send of to the authorities that morning.

Severus, like every other day he had been in Nigeria, spent all day with Azi scouring over latin books to see what spell creations they could cook up. In the little over two weeks that they had been there, they had already made twenty six new spells. Most of them of a dark nature, but a few healing spells and a few defensive ones.

That night, Amelia had kept the two boys awake for most of the night with her thrashing and whining, as was common on the night that Severus didn't allow her to consume a Dreamless Sleep potion, in order for her body to not become completely dependent on it.

She shot straight up, awaking with a gasp. She panted slightly as she looked around the room, seeing the boys sitting under their blankets, the fabric becoming transparent with the _lumos_ they were both casting.

Amelia used her own wand to return light to the torches on their walls. Their blankets lowered.

"Sorry," Amelia mumbled, clearly embarrassed by her outburst.

She laid back, her head towards the sky, watching the shadows of the torch flames dance on the ceiling.

Regulus had put his book down, and was in a similar position. Severus was still reading. A few moments of silence went by, before Regulus also sat up suddenly.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, though rather quietly.

"What?" Severus asked, slightly annoyed.

"Guys," he hissed, "I know what it is."

"Know what _what_ is?" Severus drawled, his annoyance and sleep deprivation becoming more apparent.

"What You-Know-Who is doing to make himself immortal."

"Well, out with it then," Amelia said, her attention having been gathered.

"During my fifth year, Emily Vanity tutored me in Defense. She spent a lot of time that year reading _Magick Most Evile_ , and one day she asked me if I had ever heard of something called a Horcrux."

"Had you?" Severus asked, tucking his pillow under his chin.

"No, she had come across the term while reading. It's an object in which a person hides a piece of their soul."

"And as long as that piece is hidden..." Severus started.

"That person cannot die," Regulus finished, "I think I know where one is."

The others stared at him expectantly.

"Before I left school, Barty Crouch Junior told me that if I wanted to join the Death Eaters, I should do it soon because my cousin Bellatrix had been given an object ' _very important to the Dark Lord'_. I don't know what it is, but I know that she has it."

"We should tell someone," Amelia said.

"Oh? Like who? Dumbledore? The Ministry? If they can't find enough evidence to figure out what happened to three Hogwarts students, I'm sure they'll be able to track down fragments of the Dark Lord's soul," Regulus said, sarcasm dripping from his tongue.

"We could go find them," Amelia suggested.

"Oh? And how do you propose we do that?" Severus asked.

"I don't know, we could break into Lestrange Manor?"

"No, that would be a suicide mission," Regulus said, "It's too heavily warded. We'd never stand a chance."

"Well, we could become them. Death Eaters, I mean. It seems like the only way we could get inside."

"No, absolutely not," Severus answered sternly.

"It's not a bad idea mate, say he gives a fragment to each of his most trusted advisors, like Bellatrix. We join, figure out what the pieces are and who has them, nick 'em, and get the hell out."

"Becoming a Death Eater seems like a pretty big fucking risk to see if your cousin has an object that may or may not possess a piece of the Dark Lord's soul."

"And what if it does?" Amelia asked.

"You're right! What if it does? And then what?!" Severus exclaimed, "You two never think these things through! What are we going to do with them, huh? Use them to decorate our new apartment? Do either of you know how to destroy a Horcrux?" their silence answered his question, "So what good is it if we find them if we can't destroy the bloody things?"

"I'm sure there's someone who knows," Regulus said, "Emily probably read it in that bloody book of hers."

"I did not make the rest of the world believe that I was dead and do my best to avoid this war only to go waltzing right back into its arms!" Severus argued.

"So, what? We do nothing?" Amelia asked, "That's a cowardly thing to do. Clearly no one else has figured it out. We need to help!"

"Oh yeah, I'll just floo Dumbledore and let him know that, ' _Hey! The three of us who ruined your school's reputation? Yeah, we're not really dead, but we think we know what the Dark Lord is up to. So, here we are, back from the grave!'_ Yeah that'll go over swell!"

"Severus, there's people that are dying," Amelia said.

"Yes, there is, and I want to stay as far away from that as humanly possible!"

"Lily is thinking of becoming an Auror," Amelia lied suddenly.

"What?" Severus whispered.

"She told me that in her letter. She felt that running from the war was an insult to your memory," she said.

Lily hadn't truly included the portion on thinking of becoming an Auror in her letter, but Amelia wouldn't put it past the Gryffindor.

Severus' nostrils flared.

"So what do you say, mate? After we leave here next week, I can get into contact with Lucius."

"You mean as yourself?" Amelia asked.

Regulus nodded, "It'll be the easiest way for us to get an invitation."

"Yes, but it could also result in you being killed for making the Death Eaters front page news in the _Prophet_ ," Amelia argued.

"I can convince Lucius, cook up some story. I just need to know if the two of you are in."

Amelia nodded hesitantly. They both looked at Severus.

"Fine," he huffed, throwing up his hands. Anything to protect Lily. He really hoped she decided not to become a damn Auror.

Amelia extinguished the lights this time around, but none of them slept. The world was about to become a whole lot scarier.

* * *

 _ **Ah, and so our summary plot**_ finally _ **begins. Stay tuned for more. Don't forget to review and check out my tumblr dedicated to this fic: snapes-patronus**_


	12. Chapter 12: Lucius Malfoy

_**Hello everyone! Apparently there was a bit of an issue with the url for this chapter, so I'm just reuploading it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

 **XXXXX**

 _ **March, 1977**_

The trio had returned to France from Nigeria on the first of the month. Sabine and Jen had been overjoyed to see them, and Sabine was more than willing to allow Zosma to stay with them. Alvadi had helped Regulus obtain the proper documentation from the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards in order for him to keep her. Newt Scamander had yet to get back to Regulus in regards to his inquiry about advice for raising a Nundu, but Regulus had expected it to take a while for the magizoologist to get back to him.

Despite efforts from Amelia, Regulus did not reach out to his parents before he contacted Lucius Malfoy.

 _ **Lucius,**_

 _ **I have returned from my stint following a half-Veela around Europe. Not worth the time or the negative press. Whilst I have no plans on returning to Hogwarts, I and a few comrades do have a desire to make the Dark Lord's acquaintance. I look forward to hearing from you.**_

 _ **Yours Faithfully,**_

 _ **R. Black**_

He had sent that letter on the night of March 2nd, and had received response by the morning of March 3rd.

 _ **Regulus,**_

 _ **It is a relief to hear that you are doing fine, and did not become the blood traitor the Prophet painted you out to be. Narcissa and I are hosting a gathering at the Manor this coming Saturday. Bring only those you trust the most. The attire is formal.**_

 _ **Best,**_

 _ **Lucius**_

 _So he did shack up with Narcissa,_ Regulus thought. He pitied his cousin.

That coming Saturday was the 5th of March, and the three of them spent most of Friday the 4th acquiring dress robes from Sabine's sister, Sabrah. Having left Zosma with Jen for the evening, much to the feline's dismay, the trio apparated to Malfoy Manor, having told the ladies at the tavern nothing more than the fact that they were going to a wedding in Britain.

Severus and Regulus were much more relaxed than Amelia as they approached the Manor's massive gate. Amelia was nervous about everything that could go wrong. Regulus had removed his disguise charms as they approached the manor, hers and Severus' remaining intact. She worried about the repercussions and the dangers that could come with him no longer acting under his disguise. Regulus himself seemed unbothered.

He tapped his wand three times on the gate, and it opened, displaying the sprawling grounds leading up to the Manor. Regulus led them to the front door, which was opened by a House Elf.

"Master Regulus! How long it's been!" the Elf cried out.

"Hello, Dobby," Regulus greeted, "Could you show us to the party?"

"Of course sir, right this way sir!"

Parties at Malfoy Manor were always an elaborate extravaganza, but Regulus felt that this one outdid the others he had attended when he was younger. All of the staircases had their railings covered in pastel roses, they had fairies instead of candles, a string quartet, and a plethora of House Elves handing out drinks.

Narcissa had greeted them first, kissing her cousin on the cheek and allowing Severus and Amelia to make their bow and curtsey, respectively. Narcissa complimented Amelia on her dress, and Amelia returned the compliment.

"I have no idea what in Godric's name I am supposed to be doing," Amelia whispered between her teeth as Regulus led them away from the blonde.

"Just go along with it," Regulus murmured back.

The party was unlike any she had ever been to in her life, but she was one of the best dressed people there. Sabrah had given her a turquoise and silver dress 'hot off the Parisian Fashion Scene'. They decided to split up, with Amelia heading towards the bar, Severus towards a shady corner, and Regulus towards the group of people gathering in the center of the room. So far, none of their other old schoolmates from Slytherin had made their appearance known.

Amelia had barely been able to drown a flute of champagne before Lucius Malfoy approached her.

"And just who might you be?" he inquired, eyeing her up and down.

"I'm Evelyn Grey. You must be…"

"Lucius Malfoy, at your disposal, Madame," he said, kissing her left hand, "Would you like to dance?"

Amelia agreed, and took his hand. He led her to where other couples were dancing near the orchestra.

"Are you enjoying the party?" he asked.

"I am, though I must admit, I'm not particularly sure what it is that we're celebrating," she said, following his lead through the dance.

"Another pureblood victory," Lucius boasted, "We have successfully infiltrated every department in the Ministry."

"That is quite the accomplishment."

He hummed in agreement, picking up his pace as the tempo of the song increased, "So, what brings an American like yourself to these parts?"

"I want to get in on the cause," she said, "Americans don't hold such an appreciation to pureblood ideals."

"You've certainly come to the right place," he murmured in her ear, his hand slipping a little lower on her waist, "What do you say we find somewhere a little...quieter to discuss?"

Amelia allowed him to lead her off of the makeshift dance floor. She had suspected it wouldn't take too long before things took this particular turn.

 **XXXXX**

Regulus' heart nearly leaped from his chest when he saw Lucius lead Amelia out to dance. She seemed to be doing fine, making conversation with and flashing the occasional smile at his cousin. He wanted to rip Lucius' hands off when he saw them slip too close to Amelia's rear for his liking. Regulus was in full blown panic mode as Lucius began to lead her off somewhere. He pushed through the crowd of people, racing to catch up to them. They were just beginning to head for the hidden staircase near the kitchen when Regulus caught up to them.

"Lucius," Regulus said, "I see you've met Evelyn's acquaintance."

"Ah, yes. Miss Grey is indeed quite the charming woman," Lucius gushed, "Wherever did you pick up the likes of her?"

"Paris," Regulus answered.

"Parlez-vous français?" Lucius asked her. Their eyes locked for a moment, and a plethora of his disgusting fantasies swam before her.

"Un peu, principalement pour le plaisir," she smirked. She had picked up quite a bit of French since her encounter with the man at the bookshop.

Regulus was ready to rip her head off for encouraging Lucius' sleazy behavior, but he knew her return of Lucius' flirtations could only work in their favor. He sighed.

"Did you bring any other surprising guests this evening, Regulus?" Lucius asked.

"Just Charlie. He should be around."

"Another pureblood dedicated to our cause?"

Regulus nodded, "From Australia. The Colbung Family." he confirmed.

"Very well, round up Mister Colbung and meet us in the lounge."

Regulus was hesitant to leave Amelia with him, but followed his wishes. He saved Severus from a conversation with Narcissa, who was as all over Severus as Lucius had been Amelia. Regulus rolled his eyes so hard he thought he'd sworn he'd seen his brain. Not surprising that the Malfoys weren't mutually exclusive to one another.

"Next time you come to visit, don't bring Narcissa's pestersome cousin," Lucius murmured, running his hands lightly up and down her waist.

Amelia bit her lip slightly, "I won't," she whispered salaciously. She couldn't believe she had the nerve to act like this.

Regulus and Severus soon came to her aid, and they tried their best to put as much distance between her and Lucius as possible. The matter of getting an appearance in front of the Dark Lord was, in Amelia's opinion, quite simple for a group that claimed to be so exclusive. Most new recruits had to do something vile to get their appearance, but Lucius emphasized, with a wink to Amelia, that he would ensure that they would not have to endure such a path.

"Thank you, Lucius. You are ever so generous," Amelia said, allowing the platinum blonde to kiss her hand for the second time that evening.

He led the trio to the foyer, and they were shown out by Dobby the House Elf. They had barely taken two steps outside of the gate when Regulus apparated them away.

They landed outside of the tavern, and Regulus reapplied his disguise charms before they entered. As they settled into their beds for the evening, Amelia's voice broke the silence.

"If it comes down to it, and I reckon it will, I'll shag him if it's our only way in."

"No, Amelia. Absolutely not," Regulus said, warding their room with a silencing spell.

"Between him and Narcissa, I can think of at least five diseases you would pick up by doing that," Severus commented.

"God, I feel like I need to bathe in five gallons of bleach after how much he had his filthy hands all over me tonight," she shuddered.

"Lucius is a sleaze, he's cheated on Narcissa since Hogwarts," Regulus said, "I think Narcissa beginning to repay the favor has only been a recent occurrence."

 **XXXXX**

Lily's friendship with Emily began to blossom as they spent more time preparing for NEWTs. As Lily's attention shifted from obsessing over the disappearance of Hogwarts students to obsessing over NEWTs, she noticed how much she had missed simply because she hadn't been paying attention.

James Potter and Mary MacDonald had apparently been dating since October, Peter had more or less been booted from the Marauders for acting 'creepy' towards Marlene McKinnon, and apparently everyone in Hogwarts was under the assumption that Remus was dating Lily because of how much time they spent together.

When Emily had inquired about her relationship with Remus, Lily laughed for the first time in a long time.

"Remus is charming, but no, we are not together. Girls really can't spend time with a guy without all sorts of rumors cropping up can they?"

"Well, he _is_ the only boy that you talk to on a regular basis."

"And I'm the only person _you_ talk to on a regular basis, but that doesn't mean we're dating, does it?"

Emily laughed, "Maybe in Mulciber's fantasies, but I suppose you're right," she said, "Though, Remus is quite handsome. He has that devil-may-care look to him. I'd go for it if I were you."

"Remus is a great friend, but I'm not interested in him in that way. He's just...not my type."

"The werewolf part holding you back?"

"How do you know about that?" Lily asked, "And no, I don't mind that."

"Severus told me. Well, I should say, he only confirmed my suspicions. Come on, sick every month at the full moon? Everyone who didn't have a suspicion by third year is thicker than they look."

Lily blushed slightly, "Well, if you're so interested in Remus, why don't _you_ date him?"

"I just might, now that you suggested it," Emily smirked.

Lily rolled her eyes. _Figures_ , she thought, _I'm going to be the last single person in this bloody school._ But then again, she hadn't really done anything to change it. If anything, she had pushed away all potential men in her life.

Emily reached into her bag and grabbed her Transfiguration book, and Lily followed suit.

 _Might as well focus on what's important,_ Lily thought.

 **XXXXX**

 _ **April, 1977**_

While students at Hogwarts were preparing for their exams, the trio spent more time holed up in Paris, getting more training from Jen and more indirect motherly advice from Sabine. It had taken several weeks for Lucius to get back to them after the party, but his great horned owl swooped into their room on a rainy Friday morning in early April.

 _ **R., E., C.,**_

 _ **The Dark Lord seems intrigued by the skills and abilities that you could offer him. Meet me at the Hogshead this Friday at nightfall.**_

 _ **Lucius**_

"What do you think we're in for?" Amelia asked.

"Well, from the way Mulciber and the lot made it sound at Hogwarts, you meet Lucius at the Hogshead and he takes you to meet the Dark Lord. They say he just talks to you, but some talk about how they think he can read minds," Severus said.

"So he'll use Legilimency. Well, that shouldn't be too hard. You both have more or less perfected the ability to make false memories and Occlude," Amelia commented.

"What do you think you're going to do if he reads your mind?" Regulus asked her. Her Occlumency was still not as strong as theirs.

"Don't worry, I have an idea."

The night they met Lucius was a rather chilly one for the month of April, requiring all of them to wear their cloaks. Lucius met them outside of the shady tavern, and led them up the stairs.

"Miss Grey is expected first," he said silkily, pointing towards one of the closed doors.

She pushed it open, but it was empty with the exception of two chairs. She sat in the one closest to the door, and it wasn't long before the man she assumed to be Lord Voldemort materialized in the chair in front of her.

"Evelyn Grey, is it?" he asked.

Amelia kept her eyes down, looking at his knees, "Yes."

"What brings you to desire joining our ranks?"

"The cause, of course," she said.

"Look at me," he said.

Her eyes wandered up to see a face that contained the remnants of an attractive man, most likely caused by Dark Magic.

"Lucius was correct, you are a looker," he said, "Now, what else can you offer me?"

Amelia locked her blue eyes with his, and suddenly she was inside of his mind. Horrible images flashed before her. Torture, murder, the Dark Mark. It took him longer than she expected to shut her out. When he did, he did not seem angry with her, much to her surprise.

"Interesting, very interesting," he murmured, "Another soul that is well-spoken in the mind arts would be most beneficial. Tell me, what other skills do you possess?"

"I'm quite gifted at close combat," she said.

Voldemort sensed the truth to her words, "Very well," he said, "you may go."

He dissipated into the dust around her, and the lights in the room returned to their normal level. She opened the door with a shaky sigh, and stepped out of the room.

Severus and Regulus appeared relieved to see her unscathed. Severus was next.

He and Regulus' experience were quite different from Amelia's. The Dark Lord scoured their minds to their deepest depths, but ultimately bought the false narrative each of them presented him. Severus was a disgruntled Australian potions master who was tired of having his talents passed up for those of Muggleborns. Regulus, having grown tired of Dumbledore's acceptance of Muggleborns and their antics at Hogwarts, left the school to become more gifted in the Dark Arts and Magical Creatures by self-studying in France and Nigeria.

Lucius seemed surprised when Regulus left the room alive. He was still rather suspicious of his wife's cousin.

"Very well. You all lived, which means you're in, more or less. Take these," he said, handing them each a galleon, "We use these to communicate with those who aren't marked. It will vibrate and heat up when someone is trying to contact you, and the location you're supposed to meet at will become etched in the back of the coin."

Lucius led them to the door of the Hogshead, the barman griping at him for always bringing strangers into his bar. He bid them farewell, and the three of them apparated back to Paris.

"That easy, huh?" Amelia asked.

"I have to ask, how in Merlin's name are you not dead?" Regulus asked.

"I read his mind before he could read mine," Amelia smirked.

"Again, how are you not dead?" Severus asked.

"I don't know. He wasn't angry, if anything he was...aroused? The fact that I could get through his shields certainly interested him."

"Did you see the barman?" Regulus commented, "It looked like…"

"Dumbledore," Severus interjected, "I know."

"I don't think he has any siblings," Amelia commented, "If he does, no one has ever mentioned it."

"Wouldn't that be ironic?" Severus added, "Dumbledore's brother housing the recruitment of Death Eaters."

"Or taking note of them and reporting back to his brother. Think about it, how do you think Dumbledore knew every Death Eater at school?" Regulus asked.

Severus and Amelia contemplated this for a moment, but ultimately decided that they couldn't be sure.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

"We wait," Regulus said, pocketing his coin.

* * *

 _ **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave a review and/or drop me an ask on my tumblr, snapes-patronus**_


	13. Chapter 13: Kreacher

**_Between midterms and my sister's wedding, boy was February hectic! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!_**

* * *

 _ **May 1977**_

Severus' heart was pounding in his chest, sweat dripping from his forehead, his nerves screaming. He had been summoned just after midnight, a raid on Caradoc Dearborn's home had been ordered, but had been unsuccessful. Caradoc and the rest of his family hadn't been there, seemingly tipped off.

To say that the Dark Lord had been upset was an understatement. Believing there to be a rat in their ranks, he tortured each of the members who had gone out on the raid in frustration, resulting in Severus and twelve others laying on the cold floor of Malfoy Manor, still moaning in agony. But it wasn't anything that he wasn't used to. He could remember feeling a similar pain after his father had drunkenly shoved him down the stairs, breaking three of his ribs.

Rodolphus Lestrange had made this mistake of trying to stand up before Voldemort had left the room, resulting in him receiving a second blow of the cruciatus curse. That, and the pleasantness the cool stone presented to his nerves, was the reason that Severus was still on the floor.

Eventually, Voldemort stormed from the room, slamming the door on his way out. Severus groaned as he pushed his way onto his feet, his legs shaking slightly beneath his weight. Others followed suit, and he began to stumble out of the Manor, having to catch himself on a table in the foyer before he was able to make it out the door.

Severus panted as he leaned against a hedge lining the pathway up to Malfoy Manor. He hadn't expected the Cruciatus to effect him for this long. He didn't trust himself to apparate, but he needed to get out of there. He envisioned their room in Paris, and felt himself being sucked through a tube.

He landed with a thud, his legs giving out from under him.

"Severus!" Amelia exclaimed, leaping out of bed.

Zosma reached him first, sniffing him lightly before Amelia shoved her out of the way. The Nundu meowed in protest.

Regulus returned flames to the lamps, seeing Amelia, clad in her nightgown, leaning over their friend.

She ripped off his mask with his right hand, feeling his chest heaving under her left. His eyes were conflicted between rolling back in his head and trying to focus on her face.

"Severus, Severus what happened?" she asked.

"Raid...Dark Lord...Cruci…" he panted out.

"Shhh," Amelia said, "I understand. Regulus, in my bag…"

Regulus had already dug out vials from the canvas bag she kept stashed under her bed. He passed them to her.

She uncorked them, Severus resisted her slightly.

"I need you to take these," she said quietly, coaxing his mouth open.

The anti-inflammatory, pain reducer, and calming potions she gave him seemed to be having their desired effect. She unclasped his cloak, pushing it down his arms.

Amelia had Regulus help her place him on his bed. Regulus summoned water into a bowl, and passed the bowl and a towel to Amelia, who was kneeling by Severus' bed.

She thanked him, wetting the towel and dabbing Severus' forehead with it.

"I never thought that the Cruciatus Curse could be so…"

"Unforgivable?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," Regulus said, "I heard the other Slytherins talk about using it. I just thought it caused some pain and that was it. If some bloke with sawdust for brains like Mulciber could do it, I thought it couldn't be that harmful."

"They wouldn't throw you in Azkaban for using a curse that wasn't _that_ harmful."

Regulus nodded in agreement, looking at his friend in concern.

 **XXXXX**

The following day, Regulus' coin burned in his pocket while he was eating dinner down in the pub. Severus had managed to make it out of bed late in the afternoon, but had since returned to their room. Despite the circumstances, Regulus found himself feeling slightly jealous of the other boy. Amelia and his Nundu had been watching over him in close proximity all day.

He pulled out the coin, _**Lestrange Manor**_ engraving itself on the back. He sighed, thanking Sabine and returning to their room. He removed his disguise charms with a sigh.

Amelia gave him a questioning look.

"I'm being summoned," he said.

"You're not seriously considering going?!"

"Well, I also don't want to end up like him," he said, gesturing towards a sleeping Severus. "I'll be back later."

Regulus apparated away to the Lestrange residence, unsure of what to expect.

The door was opened by one of his cousin's equally deranged house elves. He was ushered to their dining room, where only Bellatrix herself was present.

"Oh, there's little Reggie. Come in, come in."

"What do you want, Bella?"

"Oh, it's not _**I**_ who summoned you, cousin. The Dark Lord asked me to send for you _**himself**_ ," she said, a slight whisper to her voice.

Regulus eyed the ornaments on the fireplace behind his cousin, the golden trinkets on the mantelpiece causing a chill to go down his spine. The chill intensified as the Dark Lord entered the room.

"Regulus," he started, "I desire a house elf."

"My Lord?"

"Your cousin tells me that you have the most loyal house elf in all of Britain."

"Kreacher is quite loyal," he agreed, "Though, I haven't seen him in quite some time."

"Ah, yes. Lucius informed me of your stint in France. Your elf will still do your bidding, I trust?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Call him."

Regulus called for Kreacher, who was overjoyed at seeing his master for the first time in over a year. He asked Kreacher if he would be willing to carry out the Dark Lord's bidding, to which Kreacher enthusiastically agreed, anything to please his master. Regulus ordered Kreacher to return to him when the Dark Lord was finished with him.

Voldemort sent Regulus on his way, and disapparated with Kreacher.

Regulus returned to Paris, appearing in the doorway of their room.

"Back already?" Severus asked weakly. It had only been about a half an hour.

Regulus nodded, "He wanted Kreacher."

Amelia looked at him quizzically.

"I don't know whatever for. But I'm worried for him."

 **XXXXX**

Lily sat down in the library with a sigh, desiring the solitude she had frequently sought out since her sixth year. Hogwarts was alight with anticipation. Fifth and seventh years nervous for their exams, the entire school about the war that was brewing outside of the castle's walls.

Lily felt adequately prepared for her NEWTs, which would begin the following week. She spent a lot of time revising with Remus and Emily, who she suspected were doing more than just studying together now-a-days. Not that she minded, Lily had previously expressed that Emily and Remus would be quite nice together.

Lily heard someone bust into the library, giggling hushedly. Lily rolled her eyes as she watched Mary run by, dragging James Potter by his outstretched arm. James stopped in front of the table that Lily was situated at.

"Hi Evans," he said.

"Hello," she said, not looking up from her book.

"Come on, James. Leave Morticia in peace," Mary urged, pulling on his arm lightly

Lily scoffed, causing James to smile at her guiltily. He was led away by Mary.

Admittedly, the nickname bothered her. It had been started by a first year earlier on that term, and everyone thought that it was just _so_ funny. It didn't make sense, she didn't even look like Morticia.

James' behaviour towards her in recent days had been the reason for her suspicion towards the possibility of Emily and Remus. Emily had told her on numerous occasions that everyone thought that Lily and Remus were the ones dating. Since that rumor had started, James had left her alone, and had started seeing Mary.

Lily listened to Mary ramble nightly to the other girls about how _amazing_ James was, and how they planned on getting married in the summer. Usually it just annoyed her, but occasionally she would feel herself become envious of her former friend. Sure, she had found James Potter to be absolutely irritating, but it had been nice to be on the receiving end of male attention.

 **XXXXX**

Kreacher appeared in the Parisian hostel the following day in a delirious and inconsolable state. Amelia had given him a calming draught and some water, and the House Elf seemed to be recovering.

Regulus' reaction had been explosive. When Kreacher had finally returned, Regulus had reacted with such rage that Severus and Amelia weren't quite sure what to do. Zosma had scurried away from her master in fear.

 _Regulus stormed out of their room, leaving Kreacher in the care of Amelia and Severus. Regulus had never felt this level of anger before. When he'd read about having to feel genuine malice in order to produce a killing curse, he had been sure he'd never be able to perform it. Until today._

 _He was all too prepared to apparate to Lestrange Manor and kill everyone on sight. His cousin for offering up Kreacher, her damn house elf for letting him in the manor in the first place, the Dark Lord for poisoning his house elf and leaving him to_ _ **die**_ _. Regulus had only been able to take a few steps out the hostel door before he felt someone grab his arm._

 _He whipped around, his wand drawn. His entire body was trembling._

" _Don't," he choked out._

" _Reg…" she started._

 _He nudged her hand away, he could feel himself starting to crumble. He disapparated._

 _He landed in the dining room of Black Cabin. He wasted no time to let his rage engulf him. He used every dark spell he knew to destroy the sofas in the sitting room and chairs in the dining room. Eventually, he grew tired of using magic, and began throwing things. Books were thrown from their shelves, various trinkets decorating the shelves crashing to the floor with them. Eventually, he caught sight of himself in the full length mirror near the front door. A face that wasn't his, hair that wasn't his, a body that wasn't his. A man he had become in attempts to prevent the very thing that had happened the previous evening, the Dark Lord hurting those he cared about. He had failed._

 _If he'd never run away...If he'd gone into the Death Eaters in disguise instead of as himself..._

 _He threw a bust of his grandfather at the mirror, watching dissatisfied as the pieces of glass fell to the floor. He picked up a large piece of the reflective glass, looking at himself again. He looked into his own eyes, the one thing unchanged by the disguise charms, their one flaw. Regulus removed his disguise charms in frustration, the sight of his actual self in the mirror causing angry tears to well up in his eyes._

 _He continued his destruction until, eventually, he sunk to the floor from exhaustion, both mental and physical. That's how Amelia found him, sobbing into his knees, surrounded by his own chaos._

" _It's not your fault," she said, putting a sympathetic hand on his knee._

 _Regulus nudged her hand away again. Amelia wrapped a ripped blanket around him._

" _Tea?" she asked._

 _He didn't respond, but accepted the cup that she brought him. She sat next to him, waiting patiently for him to express his thoughts. Amelia didn't feel that now would be an appropriate time to exploit his mind._

" _He poisoned Kreacher. He poisoned him and left him to die. And for what?" he sniffed._

" _Reg, it's not your fault. You couldn't possibly have known…"_

" _But I still sent him! He almost died because of me!" he cried._

" _But he didn't. If you hadn't ordered him to come back to you afterwards, he would be dead. You saved his life."_

" _Kreacher was willing to do anything for me, and I let him down. I betrayed his trust."_

" _Kreacher is just as loyal to you now as he was five years ago. All he does is talk about you, Reg. He adores you."_

 _Regulus wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He looked up at her, and she gave him a sad smile. She too had removed her disguise charms, the way the light hit her curly blonde hair reminding him of sunshine._

" _I just want to know_ _ **why**_ _," Regulus sniffed._

" _There's only one way to find out," Amelia said, squeezing his knee, "You need to talk to Kreacher."_

 _She offered him a cigarette, he took it. Nothing more was said._

 **XXXXX**

James had found himself in a debacle after an argument with Remus the previous Saturday night. He had return to their dormitory after a rather rambunctious night in Mary's dorm, only to find a blonde girl on top of Remus.

Emily immediately moved to cover herself, and Remus looked around flustered.

"Prongs! What the hell! Did you not check the map before you came in here?" Remus exclaimed.

That had become a regular habit since Remus had walked in on Sirius and Marlene during fourth year.

"What the hell _me_? What the hell _you_ , Moony! That's not Evans" James said, pointing to Emily.

"Evans?!" Remus exclaimed, "Lily isn't my girlfriend, Prongs!"

James pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You mean to tell me that I believed for months that you and Evans have been shagging, and you _haven't_?!"

"You never asked!" Remus accused.

"I didn't think I had to! You've always been a private guy, Moony. After what went around about you two in the broom closet...I just thought that you didn't want to talk about your sex life! You certainly spend plenty of time with her, and you took her to the Yule Ball last year!"

Remus laughed, "Lily and I are good friends, Prongs. Nothing more. For Merlin's sake, she set Emily and I up!"

James scoffed, "Set you up with the enemy more like."

"Excuse me?!" Emily exclaimed.

"Get out," Remus said, pointing towards the door.

James spluttered.

"No, it's bad enough that you walked in here twenty seconds before I was about blow off. But I will not let you insult this woman, so _get out_!"

James had stormed from their room and out Gryffindor Tower, a million things running through his mind. The only reason he had stopped pursuing Evans was because he didn't want to infringe on what he believed to be Remus' territory. James and Sirius had made jokes towards him about sleeping with her if he would come back late from rounds or the library, but he never reacted to them. He had always assumed that Remus' silence was his confirmation.

He loved Mary, he really did, hence his conflict. James had genuinely thought that he wanted to marry her, but now that he knew that Lily Evans had been available the entire time, he was having second thoughts. Loving Mary was easy, she was a simple girl. But James had always found himself drawn to the complexity of Lily Evans.

James cast his gaze down to the brunette snuggled close to him. He had contemplated breaking up with Mary to ask out Lily, but it was risky. He didn't want to throw away what he had with Mary for a chance with Lily Evans, but _Merlin's Beard_ did he want a chance with her.

He slumped down against a wall with a sigh, unable to convince himself of either choice.

 **XXXXX**

Regulus had felt a whirlwind of emotions in the following days. Severus and Amelia had seen everything from him sobbing with guilt to hexing trees out of rage. Kreacher had made a full recovery, but the event had still shaken Regulus to his core.

He had sent Kreacher back to his parents for a few days, but called him back to the Parisian hostel when he felt ready to talk to him. The House Elf had been hesitant in revealing any information.

"Kreacher, I order you to tell me what happened," Regulus demanded. He usually never had to use this particular tone with Kreacher.

Kreacher hesitated, "The Dark Lord took Kreacher to a cave."

Regulus looked at him expectantly.

"Kreacher was ordered onto a boat and taken across the water. There was an island. The Dark Lord ordered Kreacher from the boat and told him to drink a mysterious potion. Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible things...Kreacher's insides burned. Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed. He made Kreacher drink all the potion. After Kreacher had drunk all of the potion, the _**evil**_ object appeared!"

"What was it?" Regulus asked, "The object?"

"It looks...like a locket. But Kreacher sensed...dark magic."

"What did he do with it?"

"The Dark Lord dropped the locket back into the empty basin. The Dark Lord filled it with more potion and then the Dark Lord left Kreacher."

Regulus' nostrils flared angrily.

 _So,_ he thought, _The Dark Lord decided to use Kreacher to test the protections of a Horcrux._

"Will you take me there?" Regulus asked.

"Kreacher does not wish to put Master Regulus in danger. The island is protected by the living dead. They almost pulled Kreacher into the water when he tried to drink."

Regulus paused, "Very well, Kreacher. You may go."

Kreacher disappeared with a _pop_ , and after reapplying his disguise charms, Regulus stormed out of their room. He ordered a fire whisky from Sabine, and took a seat at the quiet table in the corner that Amelia and Severus were sitting at.

He gulped down the entire firewhisky, slamming the cup down with a loud exhale.

"I see it went well," Severus commented.

"Oh, shut up!" Regulus snarled.

"What did he say?" Amelia asked.

Severus cast _Muffliato_ around them.

"The Dark Lord used him to test the defenses around a Horcrux."

"You can't be serious," Amelia said.

"He had to drink all of this potion before a locket appeared."

"I've never heard of a potion that hides objects," Severus added.

"Kreacher said that the potion made him...see things. After the Dark Lord was satisfied, he put more potion into the bowl and left Kreacher there to die."

"That's awful," Amelia whispered.

"I think the Dark Lord is practicing necromancy. Kreacher said 'the living dead' tried to pull him into this lake surrounding the island that the potion was kept on."

"Inferi," Severus confirmed.

"I'm going to go get it," Regulus said, "The horcrux."

"Are you insane?" Amelia hissed.

"Well, that's what we agreed we were going to do, isn't it? Track 'em down and destroy them?"

The other two remained silent.

"You can choose to come with me, or not. I'm still going either way."

Severus and Amelia looked at each other, and then back at Regulus. They both nodded.

* * *

 _ **Hope you enjoyed! If you feel so inclined, leave a review or stop by my tumblr dedicated to this story: snapes-patronus**_


	14. Chapter 14: The Locket

_**Enjoy this chapter!**_

 **XXXXX**

 **June, 1977**

Lily sat at her parent's dining table, flipping through both the Muggle and Wizarding paper. She had finished her NEWTs the previous week, and was currently waiting to hear back about offers for both healer and auror training, which should be coming any day. She planned on moving into her own flat when those offers came, but her parents had offered to let her stay with them until that time came.

Nearing the end of the Muggle paper, a face stood out to her. One that was so familiar yet so foreign at the same time - Tobias Snape. Apparently the local authorities had discovered that his death earlier in the year had been much more than a mere bar fight, it had been ordered by a local loan shark and was thus declared a homicide.

The image brought about a variety of emotions for Lily. The first time she had seen Severus' bruises, they'd been ten. It was the summer, and it had been raining. He didn't have an umbrella, and had only been wearing a white t-shirt and black trousers that were winched with a belt. Severus had shown up to their spot by the river soaking wet. They took shelter in a hollowed out tree. He'd turned his back to her, and that's when had seen.

They'd been an ugly combination of purple and green, showing through his transparent t-shirt. The bruise spread from his left shoulder to his right hip bone, an almost perfect diagonal line.

When she had inquired as to what happened, he'd seemed startled, and claimed that he'd fallen down the stairs. She didn't believe him, but never pushed the issue further.

That pattern continued until they were fifteen. By then, she knew what was probably going on, but he never confirmed nor denied her suspicions. In addition to the bruises, him only inviting her over to his house twice in the 6 years they had been friends was enough to indicate what his home was like. The day before their fifth year had started, Lily had experienced it first hand.

 _Lily sighed, swaying lightly on a swing. Severus had told her to meet him at the park at noon. It was now an hour past that, but Severus was never late, at least not by this amount._ _It made her uneasy. He had alluded to things not being so good at home recently. She stood, deciding to go find her friend._

 _She had only been to his house twice before, but still knew it's location on the bleak street that was Spinner's End. Severus had told her before to come in the back door if she ever did need to come to his house._ _She approached the back of the house, only to hear yells coming from inside. Lily crouched down near the back left corner of the home, listening near an open window._

" _Tobias, please! Just let him go."_

" _Not until the brat tells me where my money went!" a gruff voice answered._

" _You spent it," she heard Severus say, "at Mitch's. I had to come fetch you. Who'd you get to accompany your gin last night? Roxanne? Ruby? Amber?"_

" _I'll teach you to lie about your old man, boy!" Tobias yelled._

" _Do it! I'm not afraid of you!" Severus yelled back._

 _Lily's heart rate was increasing with every passing second. She heard glass break against the other side of the wall that her head was resting against._

" _Tobias, please!" Eileen pleaded again._

" _I know you can't use magic outside of that freak school of yours, boy! Don't even try!"_

" _Give me a reason!" Severus yelled._

 _Lily was starting to panic. She'd never heard Severus raise his voice like this before, not even towards James Potter._

" _Think you're so tough, waving your little devil stick around!"_

" _Oh, and I'm sure beating your wife and son makes you so much better!"_

 _Lily nearly yelped at the sickening crunching sound that followed._

 _"Tobias! Stop it!"_

 _Lily felt her stomach churn at the sound of kicks on flesh._

 _"Stand up, boy!"_

 _There was a pause._

 _"I said stand up!"_

 _There were the sounds of scuffling on the floor. Lily peeked into the window, seeing Severus swaying slightly in the kitchen._

 _"I'm warning you now, another stunt like that and I'll make sure you never stand up again," Tobias growled, releasing his hold on his son's grey shirt._

 _Severus' nostrils flared angrily, and then it happened. He punched his father, square in the jaw and then right in the eye._ _His father fell back, shoulders colliding with the kitchen table. His mother screamed._

 _"I told you, I'm not afraid of you anymore," Severus spat, "You're nothing more than a coward."_

 _Severus disappeared into a different part of the house, and Lily slid down the wall to the ground._

 _"Severus, where are you going?" she heard his mother ask._

 _"Away," Severus said, "Anywhere's better than here."_

 _Lily heard what she presumed to be the front door open and slam shut. She suddenly found herself running around the corner of the house. Severus was limping down the sidewalk, dragging his Hogwarts trunk behind him._

 _"Severus!"_

 _He whipped around, shock evident on his features._

 _"Lily?"_

 _She cupped his face gently, "You're hurt," she said, seeing the blood dripping from his nose and the bruises beginning to appear around his cheekbones._

" _What are you..."_

" _You didn't meet me at the park. I got worried."_

" _I'm fine," he said, wincing as he tried to smile.  
_  
The truth was he hadn't been fine. Lily's parents had taken him to the hospital when they showed up on their doorstep, and let him stay for the remaining night they had before they needed to head to London. He'd had a broken nose, fractured cheek, and fractured ribs. Madame Pomfrey fixed him up the first night they were back at school, but not before the Marauders made snide comments about his bruised face.

Lily folded the paper with a sigh. They never had a funeral for Severus, so she doubted there had been one for his father. She felt a pang of sympathy for Eileen Snape, but couldn't comprehend how she so willingly stuck with a man who abused her and her son.

 **XXXXX**

" _He's cute, does he like you as much as you like him?"_

 _Amelia jumped, her grandma's slight smokers voice jarring her from a photo of Amos Diggory in the Daily Prophet. He'd led Hufflepuff to beat Gryffindor in the Quidditch Cup just a few days before they had gotten out of school._

" _Grandma, he's a going to be a sixth year," Amelia whispered._

" _And you a fourth, yes? That's only a two year difference," her grandmother said, taking a drag from her cigarette, "My first kiss was with a grown man."_

 _Her mother's mother was unlike the rest of her family. Beatrice Gibbons had three children by three different men, loved her cigarettes and whisky, and was not afraid to say how she felt about Christianity._

" _Don't listen to all of that garble your father tells you about going to hell," Beatrice said, "you know, the Buddhists say that those in possession of magical gifts..."_

Amelia's eyes opened, and for once she smiled. She didn't think about Amos a lot anymore, but when she did it always made her feel bittersweet. They had been so infatuated with each other. Due to her religious beliefs, she didn't want to have sex until they got married, and Amos had respected that. Though, they had done everything else in the book.

At first, she'd felt guilty for leaving Amos behind when she ran away from Hogwarts. But as time went on, and the reality of what had happened to her set in, she felt like she wasn't pure enough for him anymore. If she had stayed and they were to ever have sex, it wouldn't be the same, because he would have been a virgin, but not her. She often hated herself for thinking that way, but it was how she felt. Her rapist had taken many things from her that day.

 **XXXXX**

 **July 1977**

Lily's flat was quaint, one bed one bath. Four rooms in total. She'd only been living there for two days when something unexpected happened, a knock on her door.

Lily opened the door, seeing someone completely different than she'd expected.

"James?" Lily asked, seeing the man before her, "what are you doing here?"

"Why didn't you ever give me a chance?" he slurred slightly.

"You're drunk," Lily observed.

James scoffed.

"You should go home," she said gently.

"I always thought that you were crazy beautiful...and smart. You wouldn't even give me a date."

Lily sighed.

"Look," he slurred, "I know that I was wrong about Snape, alright? Moony set me straight."

"A few years too late, don't you think?"

James looked away, ashamed.

"I'm not proud of some of the things I did to him..."

"And you shouldn't be. You were vile and cruel, for no good reason at all."

James sighed, "You loved him, didn't you?" he asked.

This caught her off guard. She thought about it for a moment.

 _She was giggling as they ran through the halls of the castle. They were sixteen, it was her first night back at Hogwarts after the Easter holidays. He had convinced a house elf to sneak them each a butterbeer, which they had consumed sitting upon a windowsill, the big red curtain closed behind them._

 _They were only slightly tipsy when Lily pulled him into a dark corner later that night. Her back was pressed against the cool stone of the dungeons and his hands rested flat against the wall on either side of her body. They both laughed nervously, realizing how close they were to each other._

 _His eyes looked at her questioningly. She bit her lip slightly and placed his left hand on her waist, her eyes not leaving his. He didn't need any other indicators, his right hand moved swiftly to cup her cheek, and he lowered his lips to hers._

" _Sev," she whispered as he pulled away slightly._

 _The right corner of his mouth raised slightly, forming a shy smile. She returned the smile, and he pulled back from her completely. She linked her pinky with his, and they walked down the hallway in content silence. They continued like that for awhile, until the pair inevitably neared where they would have to part ways._

" _Goodnight."_

" _Goodnight," she smiled, heading towards the Fat Lady._

 _She could feel his eyes on her back until she got into the common room. James had immediately tried to talk to her, but she'd ignored him, floating dreamily up the stairs to her dormitory instead._

"I suppose I did, to some extent," she admitted, snapping out of her thoughts.

"I saw the way you looked at him, even after he called you a...a..."

"A Mudblood."

He flinched slightly, "Yeah."

"James, you're getting married soon."

"Tomorrow night. I'd call it off right now if..."

"No," Lily interrupted, "James, Mary _loves_ you. Don't ruin something like that for someone like me."

"You're right," he smiled sadly.

There was a pause.

"Are you coming? To the wedding?"

"I wasn't invited," Lily said, "I suspect that was your fiancée's doing."

He had ended up falling asleep on her couch. She had flooed Remus to come retrieve him, who was very apologetic. Apparently, James had ditched the other Marauders at a pub earlier on in the evening.

As Lily got ready for bed that evening, her thoughts couldn't help but wander to Severus again.

 _They were in an abandoned classroom on the third floor. It was where Severus had been experimenting since their third year, and sometimes Lily would join him. Today, however, she did not show up with the intention of being friendly._

" _Severus," she said curtly, entering the room._

 _The door shut rather loudly behind her, and she noticed his hand hesitate slightly as he continued mincing whatever herb he had in front of him._

" _Lily."_

" _You're a right foul git, you know that?"_

" _What?" he said, whipping around, "what are you talking about?"_

" _I heard about what you called Adrienne Fenwick."_

 _He sighed, "Look, I only say those types of things when people like Avery and Mulciber are around. I don't actually mean them. For Merlin's sake Lily, I'm_ _ **with**_ _you."_

" _Lack of malice doesn't make a difference to me."_

" _I'm sorry. It won't happen again."_

" _You have to stop hanging around those two, Severus!" she exclaimed frustratedly, "They're making you into something that you're not!"_

" _I can't have you getting hurt, Lily."_

" _I can take care of myself."_

" _That's what you said about Mary too!" he snapped, slamming his knife down, "Look what happened to her!"_

 _He took a calming breath, his nostrils flaring slightly._

" _Lily, I…" he hesitated, "...I could never forgive myself if they did something to you. Being involved with them is the only way that I can truly protect you."_

 _She saw a flash in his eyes that she knew, fear. Her heart broke slightly as she realised what he was indicating._

" _Severus…"_

" _They do bad things to those other girls, Lily."_

" _But bad things happen when you hang around bad people too, Sev."_

Little did she know, three weeks later, that bad thing would happen. Lily felt like she had been slapped when she heard that awful word slip out of his mouth. She'd tried to insult him back, calling him that horrible nickname. Lily had heard James Potter run after her, to no avail. She had sobbed uncontrollably for hours in her dormitory, curtains drawn around her bed.

Her roommates had offered comfort at various times during the evening, encouraging her to shower and change into more comfortable clothing. It was Mary coming back that caused her stomach to become knotted once more.

" _Lil, you need to go out there."_

" _Out where?"_

" _Snape is threatening to sleep in front of the Fat Lady unless you go out there and talk to him."_

 _Lily sighed, and pushed herself out of bed. She moved hesitantly down the stairs of Gryffindor tower and across the nearly empty common room. Her heart leapt when she opened the door and saw Severus sitting outside..._

" _...Why should I be any different?"_

 _As she turned her back to him, she heard it._

" _Because I...I_ _ **love**_ _you," he murmured._

 _She felt her face crumple slightly as she heard those words, the ones she'd wanted to hear so desperately during their two months of spending weekend nights in dark corners of the castle. She took a composing breath before she turned to look at him._

" _What you said today… that's not how you treat the person that you love," she said quietly._

" _Lily, please…" he begged._

" _I tried to tell you, bad things happen when you hang around bad people. Whatever this," she gestured between them, "was, it's over now. Goodbye, Severus."_

 _He silently watched her walk away._

 **XXXXX**

James and Mary had a beautiful woodland wedding attended by many of the affluent wizards in Britain. The marriage was big news, as it marked the end of the Potter's pure bloodline. The Daily Prophet covered it in great detail, and if someone in Wizarding Britain hadn't known the news before the wedding, they certainly knew after.

In France, Amelia had rolled her eyes at the headline as an owl dropped the paper in front of her.

"Great," she muttered. Another depressed companion she'd have to deal with.

But as she unrolled the newspaper, her fears soon vanished as she noticed the bride in the photo was not the redhead she expected it to be.

"Hm, maybe she was smarter than I thought."

"And who might that be?" Severus asked, sitting down next to her.

She showed the paper to him, and even through his disguise charms she could still see that _look_ he did when he was surprised and confused. His eyes gave it away.

"Exactly," Amelia said, taking the paper back.

He looked satisfied after that, eating his toast with a hint of a smirk on his face. Amelia had never particularly enjoyed Lily Evans' presence. In her opinion, Lily was rather arrogant and abrasive with just a hint of naivety.

She and Severus eventually made their way back upstairs, where Regulus was throwing some things into his sack.

"And where are you off to?" Severus asked.

"I'm going to the cave."

"Alone?" he asked.

"No, I'm taking Kreacher."

"You could be killed," Amelia said.

Regulus smirked, "Doubtful."

He called for his House Elf, and disappeared with him quickly. Zosma was rather upset at the prospect of her Master going off without her, pawing at the space on the floor where he had disapparated from for quite some time after the fact.

Kreacher was able to apparate them to the middle of the lake, on the small island that he had previously mentioned. The cave was rather dark, the only light being the phosphorescent nature of the green liquid in the crystalline basin.

"Master must drink all of the potion," Kreacher said, "And then the locket will appear."

Regulus tried to scoop the potion with his hands, to no avail. He conjured a goblet.

"Kreacher, if I should become incapable of drinking the potion, you are to force it down my throat."

Kreacher looked hesitant, "Y...yes Master."

Upon the first drink, Regulus didn't notice any change. It wasn't until the fourth that he was suddenly overcome with a searing pain that began in his core and gradually spread to the rest of his body. On the sixth, he began seeing visions swim before him, and felt himself collapse.

The first vision that he saw reminded him of the things he saw during the Dementor lesson of Defense Against the Dark Arts fourth year.

" _Sirius, wait!"_

" _What do you want?"_

" _You can't just leave."_

" _Well I can't just stay here either."_

" _Please, please reconsider. For me."_

" _Why should I?"_

" _Because I'm your brother."_

 _Sirius looked down, refusing to look him in the eye._

" _You are no brother of mine. James...he's the one who's been a real brother to me." Sirius said, throwing a handful of floo powder on the stone floor of the fireplace._

Regulus felt Kreacher begin to force the liquid between his lips, but he was becoming increasingly resistant to the House Elf.

"Master must drink all of it, then it will stop," Kreacher kept telling him.

" _Hey! Black!" Mulciber yelled, causing him to whip around._

" _What do you want?"_

" _Besides Evans and MacDonald, what other Mudbloods girls do you know of?"_

" _None, actually. Though I don't see why you're asking me, you just need to poke around Hufflepuff. Now if you'll excuse me…"_

Suddenly, images of finding Amelia in the snow later that week played in front of his eyes like a supercut.

"It's all my fault," Regulus mumbled to himself.

He'd never remembered that interaction until that moment.

"They went after her because of me," he said, staring up at the reflective ceiling. Tears began to stream down the sides of his face.

" _Kreacher's insides burned. Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black…"_

Kreacher made him drink one last goblet, and then the locket appeared. The house elf's scrawny fingers picked up the locket, replacing it with the one Regulus had transfigured. More potion began to pool into the basin.

"Master has done it!" Kreacher exclaimed happily, not noticing his master beginning to crawl towards the water.

Regulus' eyes were still wide with visions, but he desired nothing more than a drink of water. As he neared the shoreline, he heard a splash to his left.

"The living dead!" Kreacher gasped, stopping Regulus from crawling any further.

Kreacher stunned the two inferi that were making their way towards Regulus, and grabbed the wizard's cloak.

Soon, they landed back in the Parisian hostel, Regulus landed on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

Regulus' world was still distorted, but he could feel the tears streaming down his face. The hand that cupped his face felt cold, and his eyes were having a hard time focusing on the two blobs hovering above him.

"It's all my fault," Regulus moaned, putting his hands over his eyes, "I'm so sorry."

He heard more distorted voices, but his eyes felt heavy. All Regulus could focus on was his guilt and the burning sensation that engulfed his entire body. He rolled over in agony, letting out a shuddered sigh as the cool hand he had felt previously began moving up and down his back.

 **XXXXX**

Amelia and Severus had both been reading when Regulus thudded onto the floor.

"Regulus," she said, cupping his face.

She felt Severus kneel beside her, putting a light hand on her back.

"Regulus!" Amelia yelled at him again.

He wasn't responding to her, his eyes glazed over and confused. He was crying and his body was hot to the touch.

"Do something," Amelia snapped at Severus. For once, she wasn't sure how to comfort him. Kreacher hadn't been in this bad of a state when he'd come to them.

Severus went to rummage through his trunk of potions as Amelia stayed by Regulus.

"It's all my fault," she heard him sob, "I'm so sorry."

"What's your fault, Reg?"

He didn't answer her, rolling over with a groan. She vanished his shirt and goosebumps appeared despite his body still radiating heat.

"Get him a fever reducer," she said, placing her hand on Regulus' back.

He relaxed a little at her touch, and she began moving her hand lightly up and down his back. He let out a shaky sigh, and his eyes remained closed. Severus came back over, seven vials in hand.

Regulus groaned again as they rolled him onto his back, Amelia holding his head up as Severus forced the potions down his throat. They let him roll back onto his side, Amelia's hand not leaving his back. It took a few moments, but eventually Regulus began to come to. He saw Severus sitting cross legged in front of him, and turned his head slightly to see that Amelia was the owner of the hand that had been caressing his back. Both sets of eyes looked at him with heavy concern.

"I got it," he said weakly, fishing the locket out of his pocket.

Severus immediately snatched it away from him, observing it closely. It felt as if the locket was pulsating in his hand, causing him to shudder slightly.

"It feels like it's... _alive_ ," Severus said, passing it to Amelia.

She nearly dropped the locket as she felt the similar pulsing sensation coming from the metal center. She walked over to a bedside table and ripped a drawer open, dropping the locket inside. Zosma hopped onto the table, knocking the locket around in the drawer. She hissed at it loudly, and Amelia slammed the drawer shut.

"That's Slytherin's locket," Severus said, "If he was able to get that, do you think…"

"The other horcruxes are other Founder objects?" Amelia asked, "It's possible. Helga Hufflepuff had a cup, but no one has seen it in years."

Severus' eyebrows raised, and he began thinking deeply. He walked over to the one desk in the room and pulled his journal out, scribbling loudly. Amelia helped Regulus over to his bed, where he wrapped himself tightly into the blanket. She conjured him some water and blew out the lights closest to his bed. As she lay in her own bed, her eyes closed and ears focusing on Severus' scribbling, she couldn't help but wonder what Regulus saw that had caused him to have such an emotional reaction.

* * *

 _ **Be sure to review, and check out my tumblr dedicated to this story: snapes-patronus**_


	15. Chapter 15: A Proposition

_**Wow! Life really took me away from this story for awhile. Luckily, I'm now in a position where I have more time to write. Be sure to check out my tumblr dedicated to this story: snapes-patronus (that's also the best way to interact with me). Hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

 _ **November 1977**_

Amelia walked arm in arm with Severus into Malfoy Manor, another celebration underway. Regulus lurked behind them, still rather reluctant to engage in Death Eater activities after what the Dark Lord did to Kreacher.

The parties were getting bigger, a reflection of the Dark Lord's growing power. The liquor was still expensive but a seemingly never ending supply had emerged in recent weeks. In addition to liquor, seeing House Elves carrying silver trays topped with mounds of cocaine or stacks of bright, stamped pills was a common occurrence as well. Identities were also being better concealed, with masquerade masks being a popular party accessory.

"Do you see that?" Severus murmured, gesturing toward Lucius and Narcissa.

To the average onlooker, nothing was amiss. They were brushing shoulders and engaged in a lively conversation with who appeared to be Mulciber at the bar, but the trio knew. Between Lucius' tight smile and Narcissa's rigid spine, whatever argument they'd had earlier was obvious.

"I do," Amelia acknowledged.

"These parties are ridiculous," Regulus muttered behind them, "Let's not be here long."

Severus and Amelia were barely able to hum in agreement before Lucius swooped in.

"Ms. Grey," he greeted, kissing the back of her hand.

"Pleasure to see you too," Regulus butted in.

"You and your cousin you're two of a kind, always poking your nose where it doesn't belong," Lucius tutted.

Regulus rolled his eyes, and stalked off towards Narcissa, who seemed all the more glad to be rid of her husband.

Severus had also detached himself from Amelia, heading off to fade into the shadows - as he did best.

"You're tense," Amelia commented as Lucius led her into the formal dining room, "Trouble in paradise?"

Lucius didn't answer her. Instead, he leaned against the mantle and lit a cigar.

"Regulus," he started, puffing lightly, "what do you see in him?"

"He's a friend," she said, beginning to sip on the drink a house elf brought her.

"Well, you're certainly not going to go the places you want by following him."

"And just where is it that you think I want to go?" she questioned, "eight months in and I'm already ranked higher than you were in a year."

Lucius chuckled, "Well we don't all have the luxury of reading minds."

Amelia smirked in return, not unused to how Lucius played his games.

"Regulus...has something that I desire. I thought that maybe, we could arrange a transaction of sorts."

"What is it that he has, exactly?"

"You."

 **XXXXX**

"Lily, you really must get out more," Remus called out, propping his feet up on Lily's coffee table as she rummage through her kitchen cupboards.

"I'm too busy to date, Remus. Between Auror training and the Order, I really just don't have time," she said, "Besides, I-I'm not sure how I would even go about finding someone."

Remus was silent for a moment, "Look, Lily. It's normal not to forget your first love, but sooner or later you've gotta let go. It's been two years."

Lily appeared in the doorway, wine and cheese in hand, "You're right, Remus. And I'm getting there, I'm just...doing it at my pace," she sighed, "How long before Emily steals you back?"

"Probably another hour or two."

"Great," Lily smiled, flicking on the television.

 **XXXXX**

"Your husband is a character," Regulus said to his cousin's back.

"He's a real foul git is more like it," Narcissa spat, not bothering to turn around.

Regulus sat in the empty barstool next to her, internally smirking as he realized that his cousin was just a hint too drunk.

"Now Cissy, you don't mean that."

"You're right," she said, watching as Lucius led Amelia into their dining room, "he could leave his business out of our home, though."

"Who, Evelyn?" Regulus snorted, "Never."

Narcissa laughed as she lit a cigarette, "I'd bet fifty galleons she's spreading her legs for him on my dining table right now."

"You've always known about the other women, Narcissa. What's this really about?"

"It's nothing," she sighed, "I'm overreacting, really."

"I doubt that."

"The Dark Lord gave Lucius something that was important to him, apparently," she said quietly, "It's all Lucius ever talks about nowadays."

"And this is bad how, exactly?" Regulus asked.

"Well before all this we were talking about...producing an heir," Narcissa admitted, "ever since the Dark Lord bestowed this honor upon Lucius, those conversations have ceased."

"Do you know what honor that would be?"

"No, and I didn't care to ask," she said, puffing on her cigarette.

 **XXXXX**

Remus and Lily's movie night had been cut short by the arrival of Dumbledore's patronus, requesting their presence at Headquarters. When they arrived, Sirius and Frank were in the heat of an argument.

"You're arrogant if you think we can just launch an attack on Malfoy Manor with our current numbers. That place is crawling with Death Eaters right now!" Frank argued.

"Exactly the more reason to go!" Sirius yelled, "What? We're supposed to just standby while Death Eaters throw elaborate parties celebrating their latest kills?"

"If we move now, we're dead," Frank said, "That's why we have Amos there right now, to get a look at things."

"We've been 'getting a look at things' for the last four months! People are dying every day!"

"You think we don't know that?"

"Oh why don't you go back to your ministry desk?" Sirius taunted, "Unlike you, I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"Now now, Mr. Black, we've been over this" Dumbledore said, causing a ceasefire of words, "War is a waiting game. Unfortunately, there will always be collateral damage, however, waiting for the right opportunity to strike Malfoy Manor is pertinent to our success."

Sirius sat down with a huff, and Remus and Lily took their seats at his left side.

 **XXXXX**

Severus had been occupying the dark corner that separated the bar room and the dining room all evening. People had often underestimated him during his time in Slytherin, they tended to follow the ones who were obvious about their power or prestige as opposed to the fly on the wall.

"Lucius has been going on and on about that bloody book of his, but little does he know the Dark Lord gave Bella that cup first!" Rodolphus rambled drunkenly, "As if some mangy ol' book is better than a golden chalice. Ha!"

Severus smirked to himself. People often underestimated how much information could be obtained when you keep quiet, and sober.

"You seem to be having a ball," a familiar voice said.

Severus frowned, turning to find Amos Diggory perched on a bar stool to his right.

"Time of my life, obviously."

Amos let out a hearty laugh before turning to the bartender, ending their encounter. From what little information he knew about Amos and Amelia, Severus couldn't help but feel queasy when he began thinking about the possible reasons why the Hufflepuff was sitting in Malfoy Manor.

 **XXXXX**

"Me?" Amelia laughed, "Lucius, you know I'm not-"

"Oh don't flatter yourself ," he interrupted, "I have no interest in making you a dalliance of mine at this time."

"So then what could I possibly offer you, Lucius?"

"Security. The Dark Lord has just moved you to assist in combat training, yes?"

"And Regulus," Amelia answered, "What is it that you need security for, exactly?"

"Something important to the Dark Lord."

"And what do you have to offer me, Lucius?"

"Wel,l an upgrade from your current accommodation to start."

"I happen to enjoy the seediness of Paris," she said, "Besides, my goons and I are a package deal. Where I go, they go. And vice versa."

Lucius' resulting silence was interrupted by Narcissa and Regulus entering the room.

"Oh Regulus, we were just talking about you," Amelia mused.

"All good things I hope," he smiled tightly, "Charlie wants to get going soon."

"Certainly," Amelia said, rising from the dining chair she had been occupying, "Lucius, Narcissa."

"Do give a bit of consideration to what I proposed," Lucius said.

"I will," Amelia replied, before allowing Regulus to escort her out of the dining room. As soon as the door shut, the two could hear a hushed argument erupting between the married blondes.

"I can handle myself, Regulus."

"I know you can-"

"Obviously not, every time I interact with him you come swooping in for the rescue," Amelia argued.

"I don't trust him, alright? Pardon me for wanting to be a little cautious."

Amelia continued to fume silently as they walked towards the front door, Severus catching up to them on the way. About ten feet outside the Manor gates, the three locked hands and apparated back to their Paris accommodation.

"Are you two done acting like children?" Severus asked as the fifth minute of silence passed upon their landing.

"Lucius wants me to move to Malfoy Manor," Amelia said suddenly, "To provide additional security for something the Dark Lord gave him."

"A book," Severus said, "I heard Rodolphus Lestrange talking about it."

"Is that what you were talking about?" Regulus asked Amelia, "Are you mad? You can't seriously be considering that!"

"I told Lucius that we were a package deal," she said, "But if he extends the offer to all of us, it wouldn't be a wasted opportunity."

"She's right," Severus said, "If Malfoy does have a horcrux, what better way to get access to it?"

Regulus sighed, "I don't know how much longer I can do this," he admitted.

"Do what?" Amelia asked.

"Pretend to support this maniac. More people are dying every day. I don't know if you've noticed, but Dumbledore certainly isn't winning this war."

"Well if you want to leave, no one is stopping you," Severus drawled, "There's the door."

Regulus rolled his eyes, sitting on his bed to untie his shoes.

"It's just...we don't know how many horcruxes there are. There could be dozens," Regulus said, "And finding one every couple of months is definitely not a good rate to be going given the current state of things."

"Bellatrix has one too, a cup," Severus said, confirming Regulus' suspicions from months earlier, "Her husband is the oversharing type of drunk."

Amelia and Regulus pondered this for a moment, before Severus interrupted their thoughts.

"I saw Amos Diggory tonight."

"What?" Amelia hissed.

"He came and sat right next to me at the bar. I don't know what his business is, but I can't help but think-"

"Dumbledore," Regulus finished.

Amelia said nothing.

 **XXXXX**

"The most recent intel shows that You-Know-Who has been making changes within his ranks. Roldolphus Lestrange now oversees Espionage, Alecto Carrow was recently promoted to Malfoy's former position as Head of Recruitment, Malfoy is now a second-in-command if you will, and Regulus Black as well as an American by the name of Evelyn Grey have become Bellatrix's partners in combat training," Frank spouted off, handing out photos of each person he'd just mentioned.

The mention of Regulus caught her off guard, but Lily froze at the mention of Severus' Yule Ball date. She stared at the picture of the young woman, who appeared hardened and muscular - the opposite of the bubbly, skinny girl she had seen in a purple dress at the Yule Ball.

"She looks so fucking familiar," James said, looking at the same photo as Lily, "Where have we seen her before?"

"The Yule Ball," Peter squeaked out.

"Snivellus' date!" Sirius exclaimed, "Not that we should be surprised, her keeping company with that lot and all."

"This doesn't make any sense though. She and Regulus were Severus' friends," Lily argued.

Sirius snorted, "It makes total sense. My brother is a filthy lying bastard who ran away to become a Death Eater. Can anyone say they're really surprised?"

Lily didn't like the feeling that she had in her gut. She glanced over at Emily, who was staring down at the photos in equally shocked silence.

"I agree with Evans," the blonde said suddenly, "something is off here."

"Just because you shagged him and he ran off to join a genocidal maniac afterwards doesn't mean that something is off," Sirius laughed sarcastically, "For all you know he could have been the one who killed Snivelly."

"For your information, I never shagged him," Emily fired back, "And you're one to talk, claiming to know your brother so well - or should you even call him that, especially after you left him in that house?"

"Stop!" Remus snapped, "If we start fighting amongst ourselves we're doomed."

"I find that I agree with Miss Evans and Miss Vanity," Dumbledore said, "While we cannot be sure of the motivations behind Mr. Black's actions, they certainly do not reflect the type of student or friend that he was."

 **XXXXX**

"Do you want to talk about it?" Severus asked, finding Amelia outside the hostel.

"Not really," she said, puffing on her cigarette.

"Look, I don't know a lot about what happened between you and Diggory, but-"

"I'm fine," she interrupted, "After what happened to me, Amos and I never would have worked out anyways."

There was a beat of silence.

"He cares about you, you know. Regulus."

"I know."

"I don't think that you do," Severus said.

"I do. I care about him too," she admitted, "The both of you. I don't know what is going to end up happening with Lucius, but I don't want either of you to get hurt."

Severus let out a light chuckle. She obviously was not deducing what he was implying.

"What's our plan? I mean, what are we going to do with all of these Horcruxes?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't want to have to involve Dumbledore, but…"

"It may be our only choice."

"Yeah," Amelia said quietly.

Neither of them noticed Regulus quietly shutting the window above them.

* * *

 ** _Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a review!_**


	16. Chapter 16: A Whip and a Kiss

_**Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this (long) chapter. If you have any asks or oneshot requests regarding this series, please feel free to drop in to my tumblr: wandering-muggle. I love interacting with you all!**_

 **XXXXX**

 _December 3rd, 1977_

Perched upon a hillside, James and Sirius squatted beneath James' invisibility cloak, resting their fronts on a rock.

They watched as the newest Death Eater recruits had to make it through a series of higher ups before being given their masks. If they couldn't make it through, they disapparated and weren't seen again.

The two watched as a pudgy individual successfully fought their way through three of the five Death Eaters. However, as they began dueling the fourth individual, the man began to struggle drastically. With a quick up and down of their wand, the ranked Death Eater conjured what reminded Sirius of a lightsaber from those muggle films Mary had dragged them to see just after they had finished their time at Hogwarts. The figure began wielding their wand like a sword, and the light that came off of it successfully deflected all of the recruit's spells.

"Blimey," James whispered, "That's some of the coolest shit I've ever seen."

"Imagine if Snivelly had ever learned that one at school," Sirius snorted.

James merely shrugged, not wanting to join Sirius' reminiscence of their school foe.

After the masked Death Eater successfully defeated the recruit, a shrill voice that Sirius knew to be Bellatrix shrieked out:

"That is all for today! Be gone!"

The pool of recruits disapparated, leaving only the five members on the hillside.

The figure James and Sirius had been watching removed their mask, wiping sweat from their brow.

"That's her!" Sirius hissed, "Which means little Reggie shouldn't be too far from here."

As if one cue, Regulus too removed his mask. Sirius stiffened beside James, not anticipating the effect that seeing his brother would have on him.

"C'mon, Pads. Let's get back to headquarters," James said, leading them off to a safe distance to disapparate without being heard.

 **XXXXX**

"What the bloody hell was that?" Regulus said, approaching Amelia, "You couldn't have pulled that out two raids ago?"

Amelia laughed, remembering how they had been outnumbered five to one by Order members on their most recent raid of a Ministry official's house.

"It's something that I've been working on for awhile now," she said, "Want to see something else?"

Regulus nodded, watching as Bellatrix, Lucius, and Goyle disapparated.

"Remember that book I found in Paris?" she asked.

Again, he nodded, "The energy one."

"Watch this."

Regulus' eyes widened as Amelia took a deep breath in, then with a powerful step and sideways chop of her arm, sent a bolt of lightening hurtling toward a rock wedged on the hillside.

"You're amazing," he breathed, "Do you think you could teach me?"

"Of course."

"I've been working on something too," he said.

Amelia looked at him expectantly, her eyes increasing in size as she watched him fly into the air, smoke trailing behind him as he flew in the vicinity around them. He landed firmly back on his feet, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Wow, Reg!" she gasped, "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"The Dark Lord," he admitted quietly, "Said it was repayment for how he harmed Kreacher."

Amelia gave him a sympathetic smile, then held out her hand to him.

"Shall we?" she asked.

He took her hand, then opened his eyes to find them in the foyer of Malfoy Manor. They had moved in a few weeks prior, and still had no idea where in the hell the horcrux was - becoming increasingly frustrated as time went on. Their rooms were nestled in the same hallway of the fifth floor, far from Narcissa and Lucius' quarters on the second.

They walked most of the steps in silence, but as they approached their separate doors, Regulus found his voice.

"I'll see you tonight, yeah?"

"Of course," she said.

 **XXXXX**

That night, the Dark Lord had summoned everyone to Lestrange Manor, the group of them crowding in a semicircle in the large, now empty dining room. The only piece of furniture that remained was a stone, throne-like chair that the Dark Lord was perched upon. Bellatrix stood beside him, and the trio glanced at each other as a figure whose head was covered in a black bag was dragged out before them.

"It has been brought to my attention," the Dark Lord said, "That there is a _rat_ in our ranks."

Sounds of disgust emitted from the masks around them.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Amos?"

The black canvas was removed from his head, and a beaten Amos Diggory was revealed. Severus and Regulus each felt nails dig into their forearms, Amelia staring at the scene before them.

Amos said nothing.

"You see," Voldemort began, "Amos has been spying for our dear friend, Dumbledore."

There were shouts of slurs and profanities from those around them.

"His reasoning? The mudblood he lusted after in his youth."

Amos gritted his teeth, staring at the ground.

"Miss...Fitzpatrick, wasn't it?" Voldemort asked.

"Do not speak her name!" Amos boomed.

The Dark Lord laughed in response.

"Such a pity," he murmured, "Avada Kedavra!"

The trio watched as Amos' beaten, lifeless body slumped to the ground. Some of the skull masks around them cheered, others stayed silent. The Dark Lord apparated after that, leaving them all to glance at Amos' lifeless corpse.

Regulus was the first one to move, quickly escorting them all out of Lestrange Manor. He apparated them to the kitchen of Black Cabin, not wanting to risk being in the presence of the Malfoys when Amelia's inevitable breakdown ensued.

As soon as they landed, Amelia vomited into the sink. Severus slumped into a dining chair, and Regulus stood in the doorway, remaining silent.

Amelia stood over the sink, panting heavily, her arms outstretched in front of her. Regulus and Severus glanced at each other, neither quite sure what to do about the woman before them.

"Amelia..." Regulus started.

She didn't respond, her breathing reaching the level of hyperventilation. Regulus moved toward her.

"I need to…" she started, "I need to go."

"No," Regulus said, placing a gentle hand on her back, "You shouldn't be alone right now."

The first tear streamed down her face, breaking the dam. Regulus was shocked when she turned into his embrace, her tears beginning to soak his robes. He could feel her clench her fists, but just as quickly as she had sought his comfort, she abandoned it.

"I-It's my fault," she weeped, "if I had stayed at Hogwarts this never would have happened."

They watched as Amelia gave herself over to her mental breakdown, beginning to throw whatever she could find and slamming her hands down on the counter. Regulus and Severus watched unflinchingly as she caused destruction around them.

Eventually, Severus was able to convince her to take a calming draught. About two hours after Amos' killing, Amelia had excused herself to the back patio. Regulus and Severus remained in the kitchen, having cleaned up her previous destruction with a flick of their wands.

"I'm going out there," Regulus said.

"No," Severus said, "I got it. She's acted like this before, when we first got here."

Regulus raised an eyebrow, watching as Severus opened the door to the back patio.

"Amelia," Severus said, closing the door behind him.

He found a sight that he was familiar with - her chapped lips puffing on a cigarette, her eyes puffy from crying. Zosma was curled up in her lap, allowing Amelia to play with her ears while staring at the treeline before them. She said nothing as Severus sat down beside her.

"Thought you kicked that habit."

"I did," she said, taking another drag.

"I'm sorry about Amos," Severus whispered, the Hufflepuff's first name feeling foreign on his tongue.

"I'll get over it."

Severus went quiet, not exactly sure how to proceed.

"I was naive enough to think I could protect him," she laughed, "Me, an eighteen year old muggleborn from nowhere. If anything, I'm the one who killed him."

"No, you're not," Severus said, "I'm sorry we couldn't do more."

"What exactly _are_ we doing, Severus? We've done all of this, and for what?"

"I…I'm not sure," he answered honestly.

"We'll have to go to Dumbledore soon."

"Never," Severus snorted.

"I think we will. We don't know how to destroy these bloody horcruxes, and if anyone does, it's Dumbledore."

Severus sighed, unwilling to concede to her argument.

"Regulus is worried," she stated, "about me."

"Yeah, he is. We both are."

"Then why isn't he out here?"

"I told him not to."

Amelia let out a laugh, then flicked her wand toward the door - rolling up the curtains, revealing Regulus leaning against it. Amelia gestured at him, wishing for him to come outside. He did.

As Regulus sat down, Severus stood, leaving the two of them alone. He wasn't sure how much longer they remained out there, but he could hear the occasional cackle of laughter and choking out of sobs well into the night.

 **XXXXX**

"It was unlike any magic I've ever seen, sir."

Dumbledore summoned his pensieve, "would you mind?"

"Not at all, sir," James said.

Dumbledore pressed his wand to James' temple, retrieving the silver thread of memory from within. He placed it gently in the water, diving in. James watched for four minutes of awkward silence before Dumbledore emerged.

The look on Dumbledore's face was unlike any James had ever seen.

"Sir?"

"How peculiar," Dumbledore said, "I've seen this raw strength only once before."

"Once before, sir?"

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, folding his hands, saying nothing more.

James took that as his sign to leave, apparating from beyond the Hogwarts gate.

 **XXXXX**

 _December 14th, 1977_

Alice and Frank had announced their pregnancy at the end of November. Mary and James had known that they were expecting for about a month, and had planned on announcing it in early December. Amos' death had put a delay on those plans.

"Before you all leave, Mary and I have an announcement to make," James said, the Order meeting having concluded.

"You're having a baby, aren't you?" Marlene squealed.

Mary smiled bashfully, "Yes, I'm about six weeks."

"Oh that's wonderful!" Molly exclaimed, hopping up to hug the two of them - her own pregnant midsection making the hug slightly difficult.

The couple received a plethora of hugs and handshakes of congratulations, the idea of the war outside fleeting for that one moment. And for that one moment, everything was perfect. And then that moment ended, everyone using the cover of darkness to retreat back to their homes.

 **XXXXX**

 _December 18th, 1977_

"Colbung!" Rodolphus Lestrange barked, "The Dark Lord wants you on this mission."

Severus picked up the paper that was thrown at him, which outlined the details of the mission. Unsurprisingly, it was related to espionage. What shocked him were the subjects: Remus Lupin and Emily Vanity.

Severus hadn't thought of Emily in quite some time, which was unfortunate now that he thought about it. He was one of the only people besides Regulus who bothered with him after Lily had ended things.

Severus apparated to the village they were said to be residing in, Falmouth, which was also unsurprising given Emily's constant obsession with the sea when they were in school. It took nearly a day before he spotted the two of them walk into a local bakery. He watched them from a distance for several days, before finally being able to trace them back to their home undetected.

Severus hesitated as he took down their address, before deciding to switch around the last two numbers. Unfond of Remus as he was, he wasn't willing to risk Emily's safety. Short their friendship may have been in the grand scheme of things, he still held her in high regards.

On the night before Christmas Eve, Severus made himself cozy in the corner of a bar that Remus and Emily had made plans to visit. He looked up when he heard the door squeak open, and all but choked on his drink when he saw none other than Lily Evans walk through the threshold.

"'Ello Lily!" the barman greeted happily, "Having the usual I'll trust?"

Lily chucked and nodded, "Remus and Emily will be along shortly."

Severus watched as she made herself comfortable in a corner booth, directly in his line of sight. She pulled a book from her bag, and Severus watched as she read and lazily twirled a lock of hair around her middle finger, just as she had done when they were nine. At one point, she looked up at him, her emerald eyes locking with his nearly caused him to weep.

He broke eye contact first, turning his attention back to his drink. She gave him a confused look before turning back to her book. Severus didn't allow himself to look again until he heard the door squeak open again, in walking Emily and Remus.

Severus listened at the exchange of pleasantries, updates on which couples were pregnant in the Order, and the questions about the upcoming holiday. Remus and Emily had invited Lily to join them, since she didn't want to go home. In part because of Petunia, in part because of how dangerous it was.

When it became obvious that he was going to gain no useful information, Severus moved to leave. When he was a few steps out the door, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hey!" Lily exclaimed, chasing after him.

Severus turned around, saying nothing.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked.

Severus shook his head, "I-I don't believe so."

"There's just something about you...that seems so familiar," Lily said, locking eyes with him again, "But apparently I was wrong. Have a good night."

Lily turned on her heel, walking back into the pub, the door slamming shut behind her.

 **XXXXX**

 _December 24th, 1977_

Amelia had spent the morning with Narcissa in Diagon Alley, buying a few last minute things before Christmas. One of the things that surprised Amelia was Narcissa's purchase of baby clothes. When Amelia gave her a raised eyebrow, all the blonde said was:

"I'm telling Lucius tomorrow."

She had been worried that they hadn't heard from Severus in a few days. However, when they were summoned to yet another Death Eater meeting that evening, she found out why.

When they landed in the grounds of Lestrange Manor, Amelia could hear the crack of a whip followed by grunts of pain in the distance. As she and Regulus drew closer, she could see that the noises of pain were being caused by the Death Eaters' newest discipline device: cruciatus whips. They left marks on their victims that didn't stop the curse's famous burning until they scabbed over. The whipping was occurring near the stairs of Lestrange Manor for all to see, the victim chained by each of his limbs, a small crowd around them. It was only when she got closer that she realized that the shirtless man being whipped was Severus.

She abandoned Regulus, running toward Severus.

"No!" she exclaimed, "No! Stop!"

Amelia stepped between Severus and his attacker, resulting in a punch to the face. Amelia fell to the ground, feeling the burning of the whip striking her side.

"It's okay," Severus gasped out, "Just go. It's okay."

Amelia rose, again standing between Severus and his attacker.

"Move."

Amelia shook her head.

"You want another?"

"Go ahead," Amelia said.

The Death Eater waved his wand, the whip disappearing. He pointed his wand at Amelia, and then Lucius intervened.

"Oh now, what have you gotten yourself into Miss Grey?" Lucius asked, strutting to Amelia's side.

"Get out of my way!" The masked figure barked.

"You don't want to kill her," Lucius said simply.

"How 'bout I kill both of ya?"

"You're new here, and you don't recognize that I'm trying to help you," Lucius said, maintaining an even tone, "You recognize her, Evelyn Grey? The woman who knocked you on your ass more than once during your recruitment?"

"She interfered with discipline."

"I never said she was smart," Lucius said, "You've already got a couple of lashes in. Let it go."

"That's not good enough, she's an agitator!"

"Easy, easy!" Regulus said, rushing into the altercation as well, "Are you sure that the Dark Lord wants three dead commanders here? Because that's what you're looking at."

The masked figure did not respond.

"It's bad enough that you're carrying out an order from Lestrange and not the Dark Lord himself," Lucius said.

"Just let it go, and we will too," Regulus said.

Lucius raised an eyebrow at the man, who lowered his wand.

"Alright," the man said, "Okay. But next time, it's the execution squad."

"Excellent idea," Lucius said.

The man sulked away into the meeting, leaving the three of them in his wake.

Amelia immediately moved to unshackle Severus, but not before Regulus brushed a hand across the gash under her right eye.

"You're hurt," he said.

Amelia pushed his hand away, "I'm fine."

Lucius chuckled lightly, turning to leave them.

"Lucius," Amelia said, "thanks."

Making no indication of whether he heard her or not, Lucius kept walking. Once they got Severus down from his shackles, they wrapped one of his arms around each other their shoulders, carrying him to the apparition zone.

When they landed back in Malfoy Manor, Narcissa immediately moved to help them, vanishing everything off of the dining table. The laid Severus face down on the table, and it became apparent just how many wounds there were on his back. He was still howling in pain, and Amelia instructed Regulus to go get snow to make a snow jacket while Narcissa ran upstairs to grab vials of whatever she could find.

"What did this to him?" Narcissa asked, cringing as Severus grunted in pain with each handful of snow they applied to him.

"Cruciatus whip," Amelia said, "courtesy of Lestrange."

Eventually, Severus stopped whimpering, indicating that his wounds had begun to close. Regulus helped Amelia move him to his bedroom, laying him on his side so that his scabbing wounds wouldn't stick to his sheets.

"You're crazy," Regulus whispered harshly after they shut Severus' door, "You could've been killed."

"Well unlike you, I couldn't just sit there and do nothing!" Amelia snapped.

"Mil-"

"I don't need you watching over me like a hawk, Regulus! I'm fine!"

"Obviously not!" he argued, "You've been putting yourself in harms way for no good reason ever since Diggory got killed!"

"Don't talk about things you don't understand, Regulus."

"Why are you always like this, huh? So hot and cold, happy one moment and then angry the next. Make up your fucking mind about how you feel!"

Amelia was taken aback by his anger, which he had never truly directed at her before.

"Oh don't look so shocked," he laughed bitterly, "you the treat people who care about you like shit long enough and eventually they'll lash out."

He pushed by her, making his way toward his room. Amelia reached out, catching his hand. Neither could deny the tingling sensation that the touch gave off.

"Reg," she said, "I'm sorry."

Regulus snatched his hand away, shaking his head, "Goodnight."

 **XXXXX**

 _December 31st, 1977_

Christmas was a rather quiet affair for the trio. To say that Lucius was shocked at Narcissa's news was an understatement, but he seemed to be happy with the idea of having an heir. Regulus had gotten Amelia an amber pendant and Severus a potioneer's pocket watch. Severus had gotten them each a book, and Amelia had made the two of them new robes.

Feeling cooped up in Malfoy Manor, Amelia desired nothing more than to go out on New Years Eve. Severus, still recovering from his wounds, did not wish to join. Regulus however was more than happy to accompany her to the muggle pub on the Irish coast that she apparated them to.

Amelia had wanted to go by herself, but eventually she agreed that it was unsafe to go out alone, no matter how little the possibility was that they would encounter someone from the Order. Before they entered the bar, she decided to remove her disguise charms, revealing a shoulder length haircut - quite different from the waist length Regulus had grown accustomed to.

"When did you cut your hair?" he asked.

"Night Amos died, after you went to bed."

"It looks nice."

"Thanks," she smiled lightly.

"How'd you find this place anyway?"

"My grandfather talked about it once, said if I ever had the chance that I should come."

Regulus felt out of place in his muggle jeans and purple paisley shirt, but he thought Amelia looked beautiful in the white dress she was wearing. He was happy to appease her, mainly sitting back and watching as Amelia slowly increased her amount of inebriation, her dancing becoming increasingly fluid as the night went on. Eventually, she forced him from his barstool.

"Reg!" she giggled, "Come dance with me!"

He obliged, feeling his heart rate pick up at the closeness to her.

He used his right arm to spin her around, and she laughed at that. He loved it when she laughed. It wasn't a sound he heard often these days, but he relished in it when he did.

On another spin, she stumbled into his chest, laughing into his paisley shirt. He'd never noticed how much shorter she was than him, barely reaching the top of his sternum.

"Reg, you're such a good friend," she sighed happily, still hugging him closely.

On a whim, he pressed a kiss into her hair, he could still smell the vanilla scent of her shampoo through the cigarette smoke.

She looked up at him, surprised.

"Do you love me?" she blurted out, blinking heavily, "Severus says you do. Well, he's not as explicit, but do you?"

Regulus cleared his throat, "what do you say we get you home?"

"Cuz I looooove you," she slurred slightly, grinning up at him.

Regulus gave her a small smile in return. What he wasn't expecting was her to launch herself at him, her lips crashing onto his.

The kiss was beautiful and manic. He could taste the tequila on her lips as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. She threaded her fingers through his hair, he dropped a hand onto her rear, someone whistled behind them.

She pulled away first, her lips swollen and chest heaving.

"Let's get out of here," she said, yanking him from the dance floor.

Before he could so much as blink, they were back at the cabin, not the manor. Her lips returned to his, and she started fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. When those proved to be too frustrating, she moved her focus to his belt buckle. His hands stopped her.

"Amelia..." he started, his mind and heart screaming two very different things, "we should stop."

"But I want to," she whined.

"Merlin, I do too," he panted, her face still centimeters from his.

"Then do it," she whispered huskily.

He smiled at her sadly, he had to put a stop to this. He knew she'd regret it, and between what had happened to Amos and how drunk she was, it felt wrong to do anything with her in her given state.

"I'm going to take you home," he said.

And he did, the two of them landing in a hallway of Malfoy Manor.

"Aw Reg, why would you do that?" she exclaimed.

"Shhh," he said, "let's get you to bed."

He tucked her in. She slurred that she loved him again. He collapsed into his own bed, his mind reeling, the tightness in his pants protesting. Merlin he loved her. He loved her so much, but tonight just wasn't their time.

 **XXXXX**

Amelia awoke the next morning, her head pounding and her eyes bleary. She rolled over with a groan, trying to remember what she had done the night before.

Images flashed before her. Her and Reg going to the club, dancing with him. She flushed when she remembered that she'd kissed him, more than once if her memory served her correctly.

She remembered Black Cabin, but they didn't...they couldn't have?

She wracked her mind for evidence that they did, or didn't. But she had nothing.

Neither of the boys were still in their rooms, so she decided to head downstairs. Much to her surprise, Regulus was still sitting downstairs. He was at the dining table, eating a sandwich and reading a book.

"Hey," she said, sliding into the seat across from him.

Regulus jumped slightly, "Hi."

He felt so awkward around her. He couldn't stop replaying how she had been all over him the night before.

"Did we do anything...sexual last night?" she asked suddenly.

Regulus choked slightly, coughing before he could muster a response.

"No, we didn't. We could have but...we didn't."

"Why not?" she asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Because it wouldn't have been right, being with you while you were like that."

"We kissed though, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that's all I needed," she said, waltzing out the door of the tavern.

Regulus ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He didn't like how much she could make him feel. Regulus had always prided himself on his ability to show little to no emotion, but around her, that ability fizzled away. The longer he was exposed to his feelings for her, the less he was able to hide them.

Severus told him to just go for it, like he had with Emily. But Emily was different. He'd wanted to fulfill the urges of his sixteen year old body, not fall in love.

With Amelia, he wanted it to be done right, with proper dates. He didn't want their relationship to start with some sloppy blowjob in a dark corner after a little too much butterbeer.

He just wanted to be honest with her, but he wasn't sure he had the courage to do so.

 **XXXXX**

 _ **Only 2-3 more chapters before our trio will come face to face with their old schoolmates. Be sure to R &R, and stop by wandering-muggle on tumblr if you have any oneshot requests or asks regarding this story. Until next time!**_


	17. Chapter 17: A Raven

_**Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's rather long but only covers the span of a few days. Be on the look out for another update later this week or early next!**_

* * *

 _ **January 1st, 1978**_

Walking back into headquarters, Lily stared at the remnants of the party around her, feeling a tightness in her chest. Everyone had been so happy to ring in the New Year, but she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread.

As time had continued on, Lily could feel herself becoming a shell of who she once was. No longer was she bubbly and radiant, but cynical and reclusive. She kept trying to be excited that Mary was having a baby, but all she could think about was the high likelihood that the child would lose one or both of its parents in the war. She felt the same way about each kid the Weasley's popped out, too.

Remus had invited her to come out with him and Emily, but Lily hadn't felt like third wheeling. Instead, she went to go see her parents. Petunia had also been there, and for the first time in a long time, they hadn't gotten into an argument while Lily was home - perhaps because Lily had lost much of her argumentative fire.

Her mother was the first one to suggest that she was depressed. Lily had scoffed at the notion, but the more she thought about it, the more it rang true. She hadn't been that confident, bubbly girl since that day down by the lake.

 **XXXXX**

Severus stared up at his ceiling, heaving a sigh. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Lily. She had begun to fade from his thoughts, no doubt a result of his two years removed from Hogwarts. But seeing her, hearing her, having her speak to him...had set him back a bit.

He hadn't talked to Regulus or Amelia in days. He had all but barricaded himself in his room with a few bottles of fire whisky after his wounds scabbed over. Severus trusted them with his life, but he'd just wanted to be alone - that's why he made an excuse when Amelia asked him to come out with her and Regulus last night.

He took another sip of amber liquid from his glass, attempting to nurse the hangover that he had woken up with and banish thoughts of Lily that kept crossing his mind.

A knock interrupted his thoughts.

"If you don't let me in I'm breaking down this door!" Amelia said.

Severus grumbled, swinging the door open.

"What do you want?"

"Let me in," she demanded.

"Oh for fuck sakes," Severus sighed, and then moved aside.

Amelia sat in the plush chair near his bed, watching as he fell back into the sheets.

"You're drunk," she observed.

"Yeah."

"You don't drink."

Severus stared at the ceiling.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Talk about what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Severus. What did you fuck up?"

"Nothing."

"Well obviously it was something."

Severus shot her a dirty look, and Amelia used that moment and his drunken state to her advantage, plunging into the depths of his mind. Various images of Severus' mission flashed before her. The paper with Remus' name on it, seeing him and Emily, switching around the numbers on their address, Lily.

"Stop," Severus said, thrusting her out of his mind.

"Are you an idiot?!" Amelia hissed, "You could have been killed!"

"They could've been killed!" he hissed back, "I may have done a lot of fucked up shit since we've joined, but I will not be responsible for murder."

"Collateral damage!" Amelia exclaimed, "we're in the middle of a war!"

"Collateral damage?!" Severus shouted, "That's rich, coming from you! Like you wouldn't do the same if it meant protecting Regulus and I! Or Amos!" he spat, taking another swig of fire whiskey.

Amelia pulled back as if she had just been slapped, speechless.

"Get out," he growled.

The next thing he knew, Amelia was yanking him out of bed by the front of his shirt. Severus stumbled to an upright position, looking down at Amelia, whose chin was tilted up towards him.

"You need someone to treat you like shit so you'll pull yourself together?" Amelia demanded, shoving him, "Fine! I can treat you like shit, Severus!"

Severus could only stare at the brunette ball of fury before him, watching her blue eyes flash dangerously.

"Regulus and I can't stand when you're like this! If you want to have a fucking pity party for yourself, leave!"

"Like _this_?" Severus boomed, "As if you haven't been like _this_ for the last two years?! You're a right foul hypocrite, you know that? Using Amos' death to justify your behavior is the most recent-"

The crack of her hand against his face was sickening, causing Regulus burst into the room. By the time he made it through the door, they both had their wands drawn and pointed at one another.

"Merlin's beard!" Regulus interjected, "Calm down, both of you."

"I'll calm down after this cunt apologizes!" Amelia hissed.

"The sentiment is mutual," Severus returned.

Regulus moved to stand between them, but neither of them lowered their wands.

"Take it off, Amelia," Regulus said, "You wouldn't be saying any of this if you hadn't been wearing that blasted thing all day."

"You're right," she admitted quietly, lowering her wand.

Amelia reached into her shirt and pulled out the locket, Severus' eyes narrowed.

"And you," Regulus said, snatching up the bottle of fire whiskey, "need to stop drinking. You've been drunk for a fucking week, who are you? Your father?"

"I'm not-"

"You're not?" Regulus interrupted, "Are you sure? Because you're sure fucking acting like him."

Severus' shoulder's fell, and he sat down on the edge of his bed.

They all sat in silence for a moment, the only sound the ticking of the clock on Severus' bedside table.

"You're both bloody lucky that Lucius and Cissy are on holiday," Regulus murmured, "I ordered Dobby not to say anything he may have overheard."

His two friends continued to sit in silence.

"We can't start fighting amongst ourselves," Regulus pushed further, "we're all we've got."

"'m sorry," Severus murmured, "shouldn't have brought Amos into it."

Amelia's eyes flickered up from the floor, seeing genuine remorse in Severus' eyes. She moved from her chair to stand in front of him, then threw her arms around him. It took Severus a few seconds to return the hug.

"I'm sorry," Amelia whispered, "I just don't want you to get hurt. Last week was really scary."

Severus tightened his hold on her slightly, indicating his acceptance of her apology.

"And I'm sorry I grabbed you."

Severus shrugged. He was used to being woken up like that by his father.

"It's alright."

Amelia released her hold on Severus first, then moved to exit the room. As the door shut behind her, Regulus looked at him.

"You had us both losing our minds, you were pretty fucked up by that whip."

"I'm sorry."

"What did you do?"

"Fudged some numbers of an address," Severus started, "Lupin and Emily's house."

"Our Emily? With Lupin?" Regulus said, "That's...unexpected."

"Just because you shagged her-"

"We never shagged," Regulus said, "Not once."

Severus raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"Emily wanted to, but I-"

"Had other interests?" Severus asked, gesturing his head toward the door.

"That...and the fact that Emily was obviously in love with you."

Severus rolled his eyes. It was crazy to think about how that school crush was two years ago, and how much had changed since then.

"She kissed me last night," Regulus said, "Mil."

Again, Severus' eyebrow nearly met his hairline in surprise.

"And?" Severus asked.

"And what?"

"How was it?"

Regulus paused.

"She was drunk, but...it was...it was..."

Severus smirked.

Regulus rolled his eyes, chucking a throw pillow at Severus' head.

"She wanted to do more."

"Did you?"

"Of course I wanted to, but she was drunk."

"Surprised the two of you made it this long," Severus snorted.

Regulus bit back a smirk, resulting in a full smirk from Severus.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Donno," Regulus shrugged, "Not really sure how she feels about it."

 **XXXXX**

Regulus had been called out to a raid that night, leaving Severus and Amelia to their own devices. They were sitting at the Malfoy's dining table, mostly in silence.

"I kissed Regulus last night," Amelia blurted out suddenly, "I kissed him and I almost shagged him."

Severus put his fork down, wiping his mouth before flicking his eyes up to hers.

"I know," Severus said.

"Of course you do," she sighed.

"How do you feel about it?"

"Conflicted," Amelia admitted.

Severus gave her a look, urging her to continue.

"I...care about Regulus. But Amos just died, and..." she trailed off.

"You _fancy_ Regulus," Severus corrected, "Same way he fancies you."

Amelia blushed heavily.

"Way I heard it, you were all over him."

Amelia blushed harder, biting her lip slightly.

"I may have had some liquid courage."

There was a beat of silence.

"Regulus knows how much you love Amos."

"Loved," Amelia corrected, "I'm a completely different person now than who I was when I was with Amos."

"Forgive my assumption, but...but you were so devastated-"

"You never forget your first love," she said, "I will always care for Amos and be thankful that he was a part of my life, but..."

"You don't love him anymore," Severus finished.

"Exactly."

Severus raised his eyebrow as he sipped on his glass of red wine.

 **XXXXX**

Regulus returned later that night to find Amelia waiting up for him, occupying the lounge just before the start of their hallway.

"Mil," he greeted.

"Reg," she smiled, marking her page in her book.

Regulus took off his robes, revealing the nice trousers and shirt he had been wearing earlier that day. Amelia's eyes wandered to his rear for a brief moment before she snapped them away, looking at her hands.

"How was it?"

"It wasn't successful, the Bones weren't in. Seems that they were tipped off."

"I'm glad you're okay, I know the Dark Lord wasn't as forgiving with the last failed raid."

"Look, Mil, about last night..."

"I'm sorry, Reg. I was drunk and I-"

"Don't worry, I get it," Regulus laughed, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"N-no, Reg," she stammered, "I don't regret it."

A blush crept up Regulus' neck.

"What?" he whispered.

"Fuck," she laughed, "I don't know how to say this."

Regulus moved closer to her, waving his wand over her head, removing her disguise charms. He thought that her brunette persona was attractive, but the charms couldn't compare to the natural beauty that lay beneath them. He tucked a blonde curl behind her ear, causing her to blush furiously.

Amelia's eyes met his, blue orbs searching brown ones. While Regulus moved first, cupping her cheek lightly, it was Amelia who pressed her lips to his.

Her hand was pressed against his chest, no doubt feeling the rapid heartbeat within. He deepened the kiss, and Amelia let out a noise of surprise as their tongues became entangled with one another.

Regulus felt himself go weak in the knees as Amelia's hands entangled themselves in his hair. His hands moved down to her waist, and suddenly they found themselves in the same position as the dance floor last night.

As they pulled apart, they both couldn't help but laugh.

"You're so beautiful," Regulus smiled, his eyes blinking heavily.

Amelia grinned up at him, still running her hands through his dark, wavy locks. She pressed another light kiss to his lips, letting out a giggle as she pulled away.

She sat back down on the couch, and he landed next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She curled up against him, resting her head on his chest.

"I can't believe that just happened," he awed, pulling her closer as if to confirm it to himself.

She inhaled deeply against his chest. _Still eucalyptus_ , she smiled.

He pressed a kiss to her hair, his mind still reeling over the events that had just occurred. Soon, he felt her breathing even out against him.

His eyes eventually shut as well, only to be startled awake later on in the evening.

He had jerked awake, feeling another presence in the room. Regulus still felt the weight of Amelia pressed against his side, but his eyes found Severus observing them in the now dimly lit lounge.

"About time," Severus smirked.

Regulus chuckled lightly, pressing another kiss to Amelia's head. This caused her to stir.

"Reg?" she asked sleepily.

"We've been found out," Regulus joked.

"What?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes, "Oh. Hi, Severus."

"Oh, don't mind me. I was just heading off to bed. Goodnight, you two."

Severus made his way into his room, leaving the two of them alone again. Regulus really didn't feel like moving, but he didn't know when Lucius and Narcissa were due to return and he didn't want to take any chances.

"We should get to bed, Mil."

Amelia let out a small groan of discontent at the idea of moving, so Regulus gathered her into his arms. He'd had to do the same thing several times at Sabine's hostel after Amelia had spent the night out drinking.

Regulus placed her in her bed gently, placing a light kiss on her forehead.

"Charms, Mil," he said, again not wanting to take any chances.

Amelia reached into her pocket, pulling out her wand. Eyes still closed, she gave it a lazy flick. Her disguise charms returned, and her wand clattered onto the bedside table.

"Goodnight," Regulus said, to no response.

 ** _January 4th, 1978_**

Lucius and Narcissa had owled to say that they would be gone from the Manor until early March. They had sent for Dobby, and Amelia and Severus used both pieces of information to their advantage. Kreacher had come to Malfoy Manor to replace Dobby, and as soon as Dobby had disapparated they both removed their disguise charms - which provided a much needed relief.

Despite the events of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Regulus and Amelia were still dancing around each other, and it drove Severus nuts. He fully supported a relationship between the two of them - they complemented each other well. But he wished they would shag or put a label on it already.

Severus had been able to hear them talking and laughing late into the night through he and Amelia's shared wall. He truly didn't mind that much, it wasn't like he slept much anymore anyways.

Tonight, however, they had caught on, and cast silencing charms around Amelia's room so that their conversation wouldn't bother Severus. He was grateful.

On the other side of the wall, Regulus and Amelia were laying in her bed. They were having conversations about everything and nothing, sharing the occasional kiss that would inevitably turn heated. It was strange to them still, being able to be this way. They were treading lightly in this new, unknown realm of their relationship. Their experiences had aged them but when it came down to it, between these four walls they were nothing more than a pair of teenagers crazy about one another.

Regulus left her bed every night, ever the gentleman. They hadn't moved beyond kissing yet, though they both hoped to - but Amelia was afraid that they weren't on the same page.

"Reg?" she asked suddenly, causing the arm around her waist to twitch.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"'Course."

"I don't want to have sex until marriage," she admitted.

"Okay," he said, "that's fine."

"Really?" she asked incredulously.

"I want to be with you, Amelia. I don't care what the terms are."

"Well, I know in your world it's customary to...do that before marriage."

"Well, yeah," he said, "but I know that your religion is still important to you, and it calls for abstinence."

Amelia gave him a puzzled look.

"Severus and I know that you sneak away to church on Sundays, when you can."

Amelia smiled almost guiltily.

"So, if that's what you want to do, that's fine with me. If you change your mind, that's okay too."

She smiled at him, and he moved in to kiss her. Their kiss was interrupted by a tap at the window. Regulus cast _lumos_ at the frame to see a raven - his family's letter carrier. He opened the window and took the letter, sending the bird on its way.

"What is it?" Amelia asked.

"It's a letter," he said, "I think it's from my parents."

He tore the letter open, and sure enough, his family seal was emblazoned at the top.

 _Dearest Regulus,_

 _It has been quite sometime since your mother and I have heard from you. We hope that you are well. As we understand it, you are now living with Lucius. He's a good man, Lucius. Stay close to him, he has the connections to become Minister of Magic one day._

 _As your father, I understand that you are using this time to find your place in the world. I do not blame you for skipping out on your NEWT years, if I had been the thinking man I am now, I would have done the same thing. Despite my assurances, your mother is constantly worried. As such, I would very much appreciate if you could join us for dinner this Friday at 6 o'clock._

 _Best,_

 _Father_

Regulus stiffened as he read through the letter.

"Reg? What is it?"

"They want me to come to dinner."

"Come to dinner?"

"Yeah."

 **XXXXX**

 _ **January 6th, 1978**_

Regulus arrived at the front door of his parent's house feeling rather queasy. It had been nearly a year and a half since he had seen his parents. He didn't think of them as often as he probably should, but he also didn't feel as emotionally attached to them as he once did.

He knocked, and Pinky answered the door.

"Master Regulus! How long it's been!" she exclaimed, ushering him inside.

"Hi Pinky," he said, allowing the elf to take his coat.

"Mistress will see you in the dining room."

Regulus walked through the hall, observing that nothing had changed. Sirius was still lacking from any displayed photos and no heads had been added to the collection of House Elves by the stairs. He let out a shaky sigh, pushing open the door to the kitchen area.

His mother was reading a book at the table, immediately putting it down when she heard him walk in.

"Regulus Arcturus," she said, making her way over to him, "come here my darling boy."

His mother embraced him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. When she pulled away, she stroked her thumbs over his cheeks fondly.

"My how you've grown," she said.

"Hi mum," he smiled, feeling much of his anxiety leave his body.

Regulus had always been his mother's favorite child, that had been obvious since he was young. She was always far more loving and affectionate with him than she had ever been with Sirius. Sirius on the other hand received that attention from their father.

Dinner was a rather boring affair. He filled his parents in on his travels and the work he was currently doing for Lucius and the Dark Lord. He didn't elaborate much on Amelia or Severus' personas, because he didn't want to make either of them suffer through a meal with his parents.

His mother was overjoyed to hear about his involvement with the Dark Lord. His father appeared neutral, but deep down Regulus knew that his father did not subscribe to the same rhetoric as his mother. His father spat just enough pureblood rhetoric to maintain appearances, but not enough to make Regulus believe that he agreed with his wife's ideals.

Before Regulus left Grimmauld Place, he peeked into his old bedroom. It was in the exact shape in which he had left it, down to the rumpled duvet on the bed. He picked up a few things, mainly momentos and a photo album. He also peeked into Sirius' room, also finding it untouched.

"Have you heard from your brother?" a voice behind him said.

"No," Regulus said, turning to face his father, "you?"

"No," Orion said, casting his eyes downward.

Regulus left not too long after that, after promising his mother that he would try to stop by monthly for tea at the very least. Upon returning to Malfoy Manor, Regulus felt residual tension leave his body. Being back in his childhood environment had been...strange.

"Well, how was it?" Severus asked.

"Fine," he said, "my mother's still a supremacist and my father still lacks the backbone to tell her that he disagrees."

He retold the same information to Amelia when she walked into the lounge a moment later, pressing a kiss to Regulus' cheek.

"I told them I'd try to come back at least once a month," he shrugged, "so we'll see how that goes."

 **XXXXX**

 _ **January 9th, 1978**_

Lily rolled over in her bed with a sigh. As a result of a spike in disappearances, the Order had all been moved into Dumbledore's childhood home in Godric's Hallow - magically expanded on the inside of course. All of the single individuals were put into dorm-style rooms, while families and couples had larger accommodations. Sirius was right next door to her, with Remus and Emily right across the hall. While Lily missed her small flat, it was nice to constantly have company nearby.

It was Severus' birthday, and that made her stomach knot up and her chest tighten. It had been hard for her to reach the conclusion that she still cared for Severus, and that's why his disappearance had impacted her in such a dramatic way. He had begun to float more and more from her thoughts, but days like today filled her brain with nothing but him.

Her friends had always been curious about what had drawn her to Severus, first platonically and then romantically. It had been Mary that had first put it together - that Lily fancied Severus.

 _It was the last Hogsmeade trip of their fourth year. As per usual, Lily had declined James' badgering of her to accompany him, Instead, she was walking with Severus, heading towards Honeydukes after a long while at Scribbulus'. Severus only liked Fizzing Whizbees, but he was more than happy to indulge Lily's hour-long perusal of the shelves despite the fact that there was never anything new._

 _When they finished up at Honeydukes, it was time for Lily to meet Mary and Marlene at the Three Broomsticks and Severus to meet Regulus at Dogweed and Deathcap._

" _Well, I guess I'll be seeing you, Sev."_

" _It's alright, I'll walk you over there," he said, giving her a small smile._

 _Lily agreed, and they spent most of it in companionable silence. She spent most of their walk observing him. The last year had changed his physical appearance dramatically. He was now a good head taller than her, though still lanky. He had grown into his nose, though still slightly hooked. He had begun pulling back his hair, though still a hint greasy. Perhaps most surprising of all was how his acne was beginning to clear up just as everyone else's in their year began._

 _He caught her staring, and she looking away, blushing slightly._

" _Do I have dried toad guts on my face again?" he asked._

" _No," Lily laughed, "You've just changed a lot, Sev."_

" _For the better I hope."_

" _Certainly not for the worst."_

 _This time it was Severus' turn to have a blush grace his cheeks._

 _She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Lily never quite understood why people harassed him for his teeth so often. The front ones were rather straight, it was the bottom that could use quite a bit of work. He really had grown into himself rather nicely-_

" _Bye Lily," he said, jostling her from her thoughts. It took her a moment to realize that they had arrived at the Three Broomsticks, and by then he was already beginning to walk away._

" _Bye Sev!" she called, before approaching Mary and Marlene on the patio of the Three Broomsticks._

 _Apparently, Lily had been smiling to herself a little too much when she sat down at the table._

" _What's got you in walking euphoria?" Marlene asked._

" _Huh?" Lily asked, still distracted by her increasingly intrusive thoughts about Severus' appearance._

" _I'll tell you what it is," Mary said, "Snape. Lily fancies him."_

" _I do not!" Lily said defensively._

 _Mary cocked an eyebrow at her, "Are you sure? Because you were just looking at him the way Marlene looks at Sirius."_

 _Lily opened her mouth, before closing it again. That was all the confirmation Mary needed._

Lily rolled over to her other side with a sigh. When she was in school, all of her memories of Severus had been tainted by that filthy word he had used towards her - after they were together! If they were ever even together in the first place. They had never really put a label on what those two months were. Severus had tried, albeit in the middle of his apology to her.

She knew it was probably unfounded, but a part of her still believed that Severus was out there somewhere, and that one day she would bump into him on the street, or he would show up at the Ministry, or in the paper.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading, be sure to review!**_


	18. Chapter 18: Confronting the Past

_**Hi everyone. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's just a filler, but an important one. Next chapter should be up soon!**_

* * *

 _ **January 27th, 1978**_

Remus and Emily were fighting. As such, Remus was currently set up in a sleeping bag on the floor of Lily's room. He hadn't wanted to talk about it much, so Lily just provided him with silent companionship.

"Lily, do you want kids?" he asked suddenly.

"I dunno," she answered, "If the right person comes along, after the war...I suppose so."

There was a beat of silence.

"Is that what you and Emily fought about?"

Remus gave a frustrated sigh, "She's wanting to speed things up, talking about marriage...and kids. I think being around James and Mary so much has sparked something in her."

"I see," Lily said, "how do you feel about that?"

"Emily says that we shouldn't put our lives on hold because of the war," Remus said, "and she's right...but there still hasn't been enough research to see if my...condition can be passed on to my children."

"Do you want to marry Emily?"

"I don't know," Remus admitted.

"Then why are you still with her?"

"Because I love her."

"That's great and all, Remus, but if you want different things, you should let her go."

Remus sighed, rolling over in his sleeping bag, indicating the end of their conversation.

 **XXXXX**

 _ **January 30th, 1978**_

Severus chucked an empty vial against the wall, finding satisfaction in the sound of shattering glass. He couldn't stop thinking about Lily. He hadn't been able to remove her from his thoughts for days, but she especially haunted him today, her birthday.

He doesn't know when he fell in love with Lily. When he tries to think back to a specific moment in time, there is not one, but many. Severus had been naïve about his feelings for Lily, and completely oblivious that she returned them, for a long time. In fact, it had been Avery who first pointed it out to him.

" _When do you think you're going to get her out of your system, Snape?" Avery asked, nodding towards Lily as she walked away._

" _Out of my system?"_

" _Shag her. It's clear she fancies you."_

" _Lily? Fancy me?" Snape scoffed, "No. Absolutely not."_

" _You'll come around eventually," Avery laughed, slapping him on the shoulder, "Better sooner than later though, Lucius won't want you keeping a mudblood around."_

That had been fourth year. Early into fifth year, Regulus also mentioned it to him.

" _Why don't you ask Lily to go to Hogsmeade with you?" Regulus suggested._

 _Severus nearly snorted out his pumpkin juice._

" _Lily and I are just friends."_

" _Way she looks at you, mate, I think she wants to be more than just friends."_

 _Severus' gaze flickered to the Gryffindor table, where, sure enough, Lily was gazing intently at him. Their eyes locked for a moment, but then Lily shifted her eyes back to her dinner, blushing lightly._

" _See what I mean?" Regulus asked._

" _N-no," Severus lied, he saw exactly what Regulus meant._

It wasn't until the day after their first kiss that he ever addressed it. After kissing Lily that night, something inside Severus snapped.

 _Severus had spent all day in classes with Ravenclaw, biting at the bit to see Lily. He watched as she chatted happily with Remus. Eventually, her eyes wandered over to him, and he gave her a small smile. Lily smiled back at him, and he gestured his head towards the entry to the Great Hall. She looked at him quizzically, and he stood, walking out of the Great Hall. Lily hurried to finish her potatoes, wiping her mouth and bidding a quick farewell to her friends._

 _She slung her bag over her shoulder, strutting out of the Great Hall. Butterflies began to flutter in her stomach as she thought about talking to Severus. Confusion graced her features when she didn't see him in the corridor. She walked a little further down the hall before a hand lightly grabbed her wrist._

" _C'mon," Severus said, leading her towards the stairwell._

 _They made their way up to the abandoned classroom on the third floor. Lily entered first, Severus following behind her. He shut the door behind him, leaning against it._

" _Will you go out with me?" he blurted out suddenly, moving his gaze from his shoelaces to her face._

 _Lily's eyes widened, swallowing the nervous lump in her throat, "Severus, I-I-"_

" _I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry."_

" _No, I want to," she said firmly, finding her voice._

 _Severus cocked his head at her, surprised._

" _Say it again," he requested._

" _I want to go out with you!" she exclaimed, almost frustratedly, her voice echoing off of the stone walls._

 _Severus grinned, and Lily went beet red at her outburst, her feelings for Severus finally being vocalized. He moved to stand in front of her, and Lily surprised them both by pressing her lips to his._

He had escorted her to Hogsmeade that weekend, but instead of keeping their normal six inches of space between each other, her arm was looped around his. After that, they spent most of their time together at night or on the weekends in far off corners of the castle. People had whispered around them, but they never confirmed nor denied their relationship to anyone.

The only time he had ever told Lily he loved her was when he was apologizing to her after that day down by the lake. He regretted that immensely, he should have told her sooner.

Severus vanished the shards of glass with a sigh. He was going to get drunk tonight, again.

 **XXXXX**

 _ **February 2nd, 1978**_

Amelia, Regulus, and Severus had been called out to a raid, the first time the entire group of them had been together Their target was, again, the Bones'. However, just as Rodolphus had told them to expect, it was obvious upon the casting of the first spell that the Order of the Phoenix had been anxiously awaiting their arrival. The battle turned into a sea of blood in record time. Amelia had been hit with the cruciatus curse several moments in, and ended up crawling away to the woods near the Bones' hideout to apparate away.

Regulus and Severus stuck out the duration of the battle. They spent the majority of their energy deflecting spells from the Order utilizing Amelia's _scutum gladio_ spell that she had showed Regulus during recruit combat testing a few months back. It still merely absorbed the spells cast at them, as she had yet to perfect the lightsaber-esque spell to have unfriendly spells bounce back towards the caster.

Severus found himself dueling Sirius Black for much of the battle, until a cry reminiscent of an howling animal caused Sirius to hurl _reducto_ at Severus before running toward the noise. Soon after, the entirety of the Order disapparated.

Severus and Regulus circled up with the rest of the remaining Death Eaters.

"Got the Prewett twins," a voice said, "The Bones' got away though."

"The Dark Lord won't be pleased, but the Prewetts are a good trade off," another voice said.

The group began to disapparate, Regulus and Severus following suit, landing just inside the gate of Malfoy Manor.

"Where's Mil?" Regulus asked.

"Not sure, I thought she would be behind us."

Regulus and Severus made their way up to the fifth floor of the manor, finding Amelia's black robe and silver mask haphazardly thrown onto the couch in the lounge.

Regulus let himself into her room, finding it empty.

"Amelia?" Severus called out.

"I'm in the bath," she called out, her voice echoing off of the tile.

"Are you alright?" Regulus asked.

"I'm fine," she said, "I got hit with the cruciatus curse, just wanted to cool off my nerves."

Regulus' hesitated over the door knob, opting to not enter the bathroom. Severus made his way to his room, and Regulus gathered Amelia's things from the couch and laid them on her bed. He sat down in the leather chair in the corner, waiting.

Amelia emerged from the bathroom a short while later, clad in green pyjamas.

"Oh, hi," she greeted, running a brush through her hair.

"Hey," he said, moving towards her, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm better now."

He kissed her gently, "You could have let me know."

"There was no reason to risk your safety, or mine. I made it back here, didn't I?"

He exhaled, pressing another kiss to her forehead.

"What did I miss?"

"The Prewett twins are dead, the Bones' got away."

"Poor Molly," she whispered.

"Poor Molly," he echoed.

 **XXXXX**

Sirius knew from the moment he heard Arthur cry out that something bad had happened. When he found him, the bodies his wife's two brothers were on either side of him, and a Death Eater lay bleeding out at his feet. Sirius managed to calm Arthur down enough to apparate him back to headquarters.

Lily was the first person they saw, having stayed behind with Mary, Alice, and Molly.

"What happened?" she asked, taking in Arthur's tear-stained cheeks and bloody clothes.

"Fabian and Gideon are dead," Sirius murmured.

Lily gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Where's Molly?" Sirius asked.

Lily pointed to the kitchen, and Sirius dragged Arthur in there. They talked in hushed tones for a moment, before Molly let out a wail. Lily cringed at the noise, the vocalization of Molly's pain striking a cord deep inside her.

Remus and James had been the ones to apparate back to headquarters with the twins' bodies. Madame Pomfrey handled all of their dead, and she whisked the twins away without a word.

In the wee hours of the morning, Lily escaped out to the patio with the Marauders.

"What happened?" Lily asked, alluding to the night's earlier events.

"We were outnumbered. Five to one, ten to one. We didn't stand a chance," James said.

"We should have retreated while we had the chance," Remus agreed, "But Fabian and Gideon were leading the mission, and they weren't hearing any of that."

"One of the Death Eaters tortured me," Peter squeaked.

"Oh shut it, Pete. You didn't die tonight, did you?" Sirius spat.

"We were betrayed tonight," James said, "they knew we were coming."

Lily shuddered, thinking about the possibility of there being a mole among them. She bid the four Gryffindors goodnight, making her way up to her room. As her door shut, Lily let her tears begin to fall. She didn't even know why she was crying. Was it sadness over the death of the Prewetts? Was it the reality of what war did to people? Was it the idea that someone among them was a spy? Was it because how Molly reacted to her brothers' deaths was the same way she had reacted to Severus' disappearance?

Lily found herself in the midst of a full blown panic attack. The next thing she knew, she was throwing everything she owned into her trunk. Leaving a short note on her bed, she walked out of the cottage.

 **XXXXX**

 _ **February 3rd, 1978**_

Lily walked into her parents' house with tears streaming down her face. She gave them the short version as to why she was home, stating that she needed to get out of her world for awhile. In the middle of the night, Lily went out by the river and buried her wand near the tree she and Severus used to lay under.

She spent the next few days looking for jobs, eventually settling on a basic secretary job at a local car mechanic. Without her wand, Lily felt happier than she had in months. No longer was a lonely, war-ridden life her reality. She came home to her loving parents every night, and they made her feel safe.

Petunia hadn't pressed her about her arrival home, and Lily expected that was because their parents filled her in. Nobody from the Order had tried to contact her. Either they hadn't noticed her absence, or whoever found her note was able to convince the rest of them not to come after her. Regardless, she was happy for the peace and quiet.

 **XXXXX**

 _ **February 14th, 1978**_

Regulus and Amelia were in her room, with her laying on her bed and him sitting at her desk. They each had their nose buried in a book. Eventually, Amelia peeked over the edge of her book to look at him.

He truthfully was very handsome. The way his dark hair waved slightly, the sharpness of his jawline, the light sprinkle of freckles on his body. Looking at him made her swoon.

"I love you," she sighed happily.

He threw her a smile over his shoulder, "I love you."

She closed her book and walked across the room to him, planting a kiss on his lips.

He stood, and took her into a tight embrace.

She kissed him again, the slipping of her tongue into his mouth causing him to let out a moan of surprise.

Her hands began to move up and down his chest, his hands rested on her rear

They fell onto her bed playfully, their kiss becoming heavier. Amelia was on top of him, her hips grinding on his lightly. He ran his hands up and down her sides, one hand eventually gripping her rear, the other entangling itself in her hair.

Eventually, he flipped them over, he kissed her neck as he ran his hands over her body. She pushed his shirt over his head, a look of absolute lust in her eyes. Amelia felt herself begin to ache as his hands began to wander closer to her waistband. Soon, she lay before him in nothing but her undergarments.

Eventually, he found the courage to slip his hand into her pants, but she froze beneath him. Suddenly, she was back in the alleyway. Her breathing quickened.

"Please stop," she rasped.

Regulus immediately scrambled off the bed, looking at her with concern as she began to pull her knees to her chest.

"Amelia, are you okay? Did I...did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No, you didn't," she said, tears welling up in her eyes, "I'm sorry."

She started to cry into her legs, he sat down beside her.

"No, I'm sorry. I should have asked."

"You didn't do anything wrong, I was enjoying what we were doing, but then you...and suddenly I was...back there," she sniffed, "Regulus, I love you but I just...I _can't_."

"Amelia, we don't have to do anything that you're not comfortable doing."

"I know, but I want to be able to pleasure you. I want to be able to have that connection with you."

"And we will, Love. We will whenever you're ready for it, I'll still be right here."

She gave him a watery smile, but her entire body was trembling. He took her into his arms, rocking her ever so slightly as if she was a child.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be. I love you."

xxx

Amelia had asked him to stay with her that night, the first time she had ever done so. She was sleeping peacefully, but as Regulus held her that night, he couldn't help but replay one particular moment in his head.

 _"Hey! Black!" Mulciber yelled, causing him to whip around._

 _"What do you want?"_

 _"Besides Evans and MacDonald, what other Mudbloods girls do you know of?"_

 _"None, actually. Though I don't see why you're asking me, you just need to poke around Hufflepuff. Now if you'll excuse me…"_

He hadn't remembered that interaction until the potion that concealed Slytherin's locket ripped it from the deepest depths of his memory. Amelia's reaction earlier in the day reminded him just how much her sexual assault impacted her.

Regulus removed his arm from around her waist. He could stop the massive waves of guilt that crashed over him. He couldn't help but feel responsible, and thus undeserving of her affection. Pushing himself out of bed, he began to pace.

Regulus felt so fortunate that he was with Amelia. He loved her, that's why he felt so guilty. His mind and heart argued about whether or not he should tell Amelia. The tightness in his chest increased the longer he debated, certain that no matter what he chose, he was going to ruin his relationship with her.

Regulus walked across the hall to the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror. He gripped the sink firmly, letting out a few shallow breaths. He was on the brink of a panic attack and he knew it. Nausea overcame him and his hands began to shake. Regulus splashed cold water on his face, trying to urge himself to calm down.

"Reg?" Amelia's tired voice said behind him, "what's wrong?"

Regulus tightened his grip on the sink, letting out a shaky breath before bursting into tears. Amelia hugged him from behind, resting her cheek against his spine.

"It's okay, Love."

"No, it's not," he choked out.

Regulus turned around, pushing past her. He plopped down in the armchair in her room, burying his face in his hands. She soon followed in behind him.

"Regulus," she whispered, stroking her hand up and down his back.

"Amelia, I have something to tell you," he cried, "I did something very wrong."

"What is it?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"I-I...I told..." he sobbed.

"Do you want to show me?"

He nodded, removing his hands from his face, which had become red and splotchy from crying. Her blue eyes bore into his tear-filled brown ones.

Amelia found herself in the middle of the a corridor in the Hogwarts dungeon, probably near the Slytherin common room. She was very confused.

A younger Regulus walked past her, purpose in his step.

 _"Hey! Black!" Mulciber yelled, causing him to whip around._ Amelia felt her skin crawl.

 _"What do you want?"_

 _"Besides Evans and MacDonald, what other Mudbloods girls do you know of?"_

 _"None, actually. Though I don't see why you're asking me, you just need to poke around Hufflepuff. Now if you'll excuse me…"  
_

The next scene that she entered was one she thought she recognized. Regulus was standing outside of Scribbulus' in Hogsmeade. Suddenly, Severus appeared, bursting from an alleyway on his left.

 _"Regulus," he panted, "I need your help."_

 _"What did you get yourself into now?"_

 _"Not me…a girl…" his breathing slowed, "There's a girl in the alleyway. A Hufflepuff. Someone attacked her. I think she…I think she might have been raped."_

 _Regulus' eyes widened, and he followed his friend back into the alley.  
_

Next, Amelia saw herself on the crate Severus had left her on, her legs with his cloak.

Suddenly, Amelia understood, and she pulled out of Regulus' mind.

Regulus buried his face back into his hands.

"I'm so sorry," he sobbed, "I'm so sorry."

"Reg-"

"It's all my fault!"

Amelia kissed his temple, "No, it's not."

"But I told them to target Hufflepuffs!" he cried.

"You didn't rape me, Regulus."

"I may as well have!"

"That's not true," she said, "I love you."

"You should be furious with me."

"I'm not," she said, and she meant it.

"You should hate me!"

"I don't," she whispered, kissing his temple again.

"I hate myself," he cried, "I'm so sorry."

"Regulus," she said, pulling his hands away from his eyes so that she could look at him, "I forgive you."

"But if I hadn't said-"

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

Regulus pulled her into a hug, his tears soaking her nightgown. Eventually, she pulled him back to her bed, and it didn't take long before he was snoring lightly beside her.

Amelia stared up at the ceiling and sighed. She wasn't sure how to wrap her mind around this new information. She didn't blame Regulus for what happened to her. Even if he hadn't mentioned her house, she was still the only remaining muggleborn in their year. They hadn't wanted to target Gryffindors, so they would have found her eventually.

Amelia could see how guilty Regulus felt, and she almost loved him more for it. She stroked her thumb over his cheek, feeling the remnants of salt from his tears. She closed her eyes, and soon drifted off herself.

* * *

 _ **Be sure to review! If you want to engage with me further, check out my tumblr: wandering-muggle.**_


End file.
